When the draw came out last Friday, one potential second-round match that had everyone salivating was American Steve Johnson and Argentina’s Juan Martin del Potro, and the two will kick off their match under the lights of Arthur Ashe Stadium tonight. He was outstanding in that tournament, beating both Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal before losing to Andy Murray in the gold-medal match.
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In the post-match press conference, the 27-year-old Del Potro, a former world No. 4 whose ranking now stands at No. 142 due to his many wrist injuries and operations, said he felt the support of the fans in NY even though he was playing against a USA player. Makarova is a two-time Grand Slam semifinalist who just missed a seed. He saved a total of six match points.
Thiem blasted 47 winners, 20 in the last set, on his way to a 1-6, 6-4, 6-4, 7-5 victory over 39th-ranked Pablo Carreno Busta. “The lanky 6’6” Argentine has yet to lose a set, with his resume including consecutive wins over ranked opponents in Steve Johnson and David Ferrer.
Del Potro was competing on centre court in Flushing Meadows for the first time since 2013. Except in the middle of the first set, a few drops started falling during a changeover.
Del Potro is ranked just 142nd and needed a wild card to get in.
Next up is 52nd-ranked Yaroslava Shvedova, who advanced to the round of 16 in NY for the first time by beating Zhang Shuai, 6-2, 7-5. Perhaps it was the venting of his frustration that kick-started Del Potro’s game, because after he went down 2-5, he proceeded to claim 17 of the next 22 games to cruise to victory.
No. 14 Nick Kyrgios was forced to retire, sending Marchanko through with 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 win.
The 27-year-old had not played at Flushing Meadows since falling in five sets to fellow former champion Lleyton Hewitt in the second round three years ago. But to this point, the tournament has been much kinder to Djokovic, as the Serb has played just four complete sets so far and yet has himself a spot in the Round of 16.
The 29th-seeded Querrey lost to Janko Tipsarevic 7-6 (4), 6-7 (0), 6-3, 6-3 in the first round of the U.S. Open on Tuesday.
When del Potro finally returned to competing in a Grand Slam for the first time in over two years at Wimbledon earlier this summer, he upset No. 4 seed Stan Wawrinka in the second round before exiting in the third. “That’s about it. He deserved the wild card”. In 2012, at the Australian Open, Dimitrov avenged his defeat in a close five-set duel.
Halep says she wasn’t ideal, but pleased with how she played against the Belgian.
Meanwhile, in the women’s event, Serena Williams’ serve was in fine form in a routine first-round win over Ekaterina Makarova. While her first round match was a nightmare, in the second round, against Goerges, Venus began to look like a top 10 player and someone that had a chance to make a deep run.
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After moving ahead of Martina Navratilova for the most Grand Slam match victories by a woman in the Open era, and tying Roger Federer’s mark for all players, Serena Williams offered some thoughts on gender equality in sports.
