Halep admitted nerves prevented her from closing out the match on her first opportunity at 6-0, 5-0.
Advertisement
“I think she’s given women and athletes hope and the idea that we can be anything that we want to be”, boxer Marlen Esparza said. She’s now ranked No. 29, which puts her higher than the lowest seed in the tournament (who is separated by at least one spot from any other seed) but unseeded because of the rules and deadlines governing entry.
Williams, 34, will monitor how her shoulder reacts ahead of her second-round match against Vania King.
The next big test comes on Tuesday against Serena, who leads their head-to-head 4-1 – though Makarova’s only win came at a Grand Slam, the 2012 Australian Open. I feel like there’s much, much more I can do.
“Every day, I’ll just see how it goes”, said Williams, who is chasing a record seventh title on the hardcourts of Flushing Meadows where she first triumphed in 1999. “I’m really fit right now”.
While she would normally be an unbackable favourite during the first couple of rounds, the US Open has dealt her a bit of a challenge in Markarova, who only just missed out on being seeded and has been in grand slams throughout the year.
The emphasis of our Monday session, as managed by Serena William’s coach Patrick Mouratoglou, was on quick reaction drills – with Williams’ hitting partner, Robbye Poole, firing shots at her while he was standing in close proximity to the next – calling for split second reaction. “I definitely think it’s fair to call it a home court”.
Makarova and Williams have met five times with all of their meetings taking place on a hard court, and they have never gone the distance in any of their encounters.
She is used to entering major tournaments with a lack of game time, that won’t be the issue.
The Romanian fifth seed was in control, despite a hiccup late in the second as she double-faulted away a match point at 5-0 40-30.
While the shoulder injury is well documented, Williams showed no signs of the problem, winning 90 per cent of her first serves.
“Usually I prefer to play more coming into the final Grand Slam of the year, but there is nothing we can do about it”, Williams said Friday.
Only Djokovic (last season), Roger Federer (2004, 2006 and 2007) and Rod Laver (1969, when he completed a calendar-year Grand Slam) have been to a season’s four major title matches since the professional era began in 1968. No more than acquaintances at the time, the two soon became best of friends as they made their initial Olympic dream come true by qualifying for – and reaching the quarterfinals of – the Olympic Summer Games in London.
Ukrainian 19th seed Vesnina went down 6-7 (4-7) 6-4 6-3 to Anett Kontaveit, 20th seed Bertens crashed to a 6-3 2-6 6-4 defeat at the hands of Ana Konjuh, while Wang Qiang dispatched 23rd seed Daria Kasatkina 6-4 2-6 6-2. She turned pro in 2010, and past year, she moved to South Florida to train at the USTA National Tennis Center in Boca Raton.
Serena’s sister, Venus Williams was also in action on Tuesday, topping Kateryna Kozlova with a 6-2, 5-7, 6-4 victory.
Another thing to note about this year’s U.S. Open?
Advertisement
Murray is in the form of his life, having won Queen’s Club, a second Wimbledon title and Olympic singles gold and fresh off a runner-up finish in Cincinnati.
