“She started playing a lot better”.
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Friday night, on one of the biggest stages in tennis, the 17-year-old American played the second-best player in the women’s game and learned that while she may have a ways to go to defeat the proverbial big girls, she is no longer fearful.
Two-time Wimbledon champ Petra Kvitova has always said she prefers the genteel calm of the All England Club to the bustle of New York City. I think the past year I’ve improved so much, improved my game so much.
Still, she only lost one set during the qualifiers and has since got over the top of Viktorija Golubic in straight sets, and then come back from a set behind against Shelby Rogers. You just practice, like, 45 minutes.
“It means so much more to me now”.
Kerber suffered the traditional hangover at her next major event, losing to Kiki Bertens in the first round of the French Open.
The 13th-seeded Konta went down late in the second set Wednesday against Tsvetana Pironkova. In the victory, Kvitova won 69 percent of her first serve points and 44 percent of her second serve points.
It was not the greatest start for the American who, in the first game of the second set, faced three break points, which Kerber didn’t waste to go ahead 1-0.
Edmund beat 13th-seeded Richard Gasquet in the first round.
No. 13-seeded Johanna Konta, who nearly succumbed to the heat in her previous round, bounced back to beat No. 24 Belinda Bencic 6-2, 6-1. “I’m not going to make any quick decisions right now”.
The Japanese and US duel citizen Osaka was reduced to tears as she choked down the stretch, at 5-2 stoning an easy critical volley and covering her face to hide her anguish.
The 21-year-old Edmund won 6-4, 3-6, 6-2, 7-6 (5) on Friday. Then Wozniacki ran off seven straight games en route to a 6-4, 6-4 victory in the second round Wednesday. It’s the first time since January she’s won three matches at the same tournament. Kvitova has won 11 of her last 13 matches on hard court.
Novak Djokovic got another free pass at the U.S. Open, advancing when his third-round opponent, Mikhail Youzhny, stopped because of injury after only six games.
The seventh-seeded Italian needed almost two hours to top 102nd-ranked Carina Witthoeft 6-0, 5-7, 6-3 in the third round Friday. Vinci needed just 22 minutes to win the first set.
Isner, 31, is 3-6 in U.S. Open third-round matches.
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Outside of the Williams sisters, Petra Kvitova is the only multiple women’s Grand Slam title victor in the US Open and is pursuing a third major on a diet of movies, napping and as little practice as possible.
