The US Open: Halep out; Townsend, Kudla rising

Taylor Townsend

It was quite a day at the United States Open on Thursday. A couple of the Americans won in gigantic upsets: Taylor Townsend stunned Simona Halep 2-6, 6-3, 7-6(4). Then, Denis Kudla won 7-5, 7-5, 0-6, 6-3 over the the No. 27-seed Dusan Lajovic. They could have lost given that both of them have not reached the top-45 ever. But, they kept trying, digging and, yesterday, they believed in themselves. They are not that fast, but they really wanted to show the fans that we are more than respectable.

More than a few years ago, it looked like Townsend would rise up into the top 10, pretty fast, and then after, she would win a Grand Slam. Sadly, not even close. But this summer, she switched it. Against Halep she attached the net 106 times, winning 64 points for a 60-percent clip. The strategy worked.

“It’s been, like, a really long journey. You flood with emotions of the things you’ve been through, positive, negative,” Townsend said. “Just to be able to get over the hump, it’s such an amazing feeling because after Wimbledon, I was devastated after I lost to [Kiki] Bertens after having a match point. That woke me up out of my sleep. I put my head down and just worked really hard and just tried to take the positives away from it, just continue to press forward. I belong on this level.  I’ve had a lot of people doubting me being able to break through, quote unquote.”

She actually has a good chance to reach the second week: on Saturday, she will face Sorana Cirstea, a decent player, but not great. If Townsend will stay composed, she could push her way back and then throw in a few soft drop shots.

Kudla has been playing for a long time now. He plays a lot of challengers, almost every week, in the U.S., Europe, Asia … you name it. He can be very consistent, but he needs to mix it up more. And be more aggressive. But, when he came to the US Open, he was ready to sprint and lock it in.

“I knew if I just stayed patient, if I work, I did a little bit kind of soul searching, whatever you want to call it, just thinking from inside me what’s kind of missing,”  Kudla said. “Ever since Montreal [a month ago], I’ve been playing with a different fire, different kind of motivation. I feel inspired again. Just lucky to be back out here.”

While that is true, he will face No. 1 Novak Djokovic in the next round. To be close, Kudla will have to go for the lines when he has an opportunity. If not, he won’t win a set.

NOTES

American Tennys Sandgren beat Vasek Pospisil, and now he will go up against the good veteran Diego Schwartzman. The Argentine is the favorite, but Sandgren can push him hard …

John Isner won again, beating Jan-Lennard in straight sets. Maybe the tall American can go far, if he plays fantastic against Mario Cilic. But, it’s a toss-up. The winner could play Rafa Nadal, who advanced in a walkover. That would be very, very tough, especially when Isner has to face the Spaniard.

Out of nowhere, Caroline Wozniacki won two matches in a row. She has been losing a lot, essentially because she has been injured for months. Now it looks like she is feeling OK. However, Wozniacki has to face the terrific Canadian Bianca Andreescu. What a match it should be…

Two years ago, Jelena Ostapenko won Roland Garros. Then she fell down mentally. Now it looks like the big hitter is focusing. She beat Alison Riske and now she has to play against Kristie Ahn, who was born in Flushing Meadows. If Ahn wins, maybe she can dive into the ocean and swim, and cheer loudly.

2018 Aussie Open, The Picks, Day 7

Madison Keys vs Caroline Garcia
This has to be a tossup. They have only faced each other twice, only the hardcourts. The Frenchwoman won in Fed Cup; the American Keys bested Keys in 2016 Wuhan. Since then, Garcia has risen because last fall she finally became aggressive, smarter and confident.
At times over the past four years, Keys has been very good, bad and so-so. But right now, Keys is finally happy, she is healthy and she can finally breath again. The same goes with Garcia: When she was way down, she could become depressed, and she would mentally walk away. But now, she never gives up and she returns very well. Plus, she plays a lot of doubles and she can put it away at the net.  
Keys is a huge first serve, as well as her heavy strokes. It will be a long battle, but in the end, the American will outlast Garcia in three heavy sets.

Simona Halep vs Naomi Osaka
It took the No. 1 Halep, what, nearly four hours to win over Lauren Davis on Saturday. What a marathon! As Halep said, she almost died. But she is still in there, and she is incredibly strong in her legs. At least by Monday, Halep will have recovered.  
Osaka is a solid hitter and upset the Aussie Ash Barty. That was a huge win. She is only 20 years old; clearly, she is coming up. She will try to out-stroke Halep, but Osaka needs more time to mature. Simona will win in straight sets.

Novak Djokovic vs Hyeon Chung
We all know that when the Serbian is locked in, he can thump anyone. But, last year, the very young South Korean Chung was pretty good and continues to improve. In the fifth set against Sasha Zverev, he blew him out 6-0. Ka-boom.
Chung is super steady, and very quick. Of course, Djokovic is the favorite as he has won six titles at the AO. He was frustrated last season, he was very hurt, but now, he is healthy and driven. Djokovic will win in four sets, but there will be some very long rallies.   

Dominic Thiem vs Tennys Sandgren
Yes, there is one US male left, the tall Sandgren. The American has been around for eight years. He has struggled, year after year, because he isn’t that fast, but he has a huge serve, and he can crack his forehand.
The Austrian keeps on plugging away, an odd thing to say about a player with his ranking. Thiem is ranked No. 5, and he loves clay, but gradually, he is getting better at the hardcourts, especially with his one-handed backhand. As Sandgren, said, “Its going to be really tough, man.”
One way or another, Thiem will wear him down and win in four sets.

Vickery, Johnson surprise with Aussie Open Playoff wins

Sachia Vickery went from maybe to the USTA Australian Open Wild Card Playoff women’s champion, taking out fourth-seed Victoria Duval in two easy sets.

In a little over an hour, the decade-long rivalry that started when they first played at age 7 had a new chapter as Vickery breezed through the favored Duval 6-2, 6-3. Vickery gained entry into the tournament when Melanie Oudin pulled out with rhabdomyolysis.

Former two-time NCAA champion Steve Johnson also won a free pass into the Australian Open main draw by defeating Tennys Sandgren in five sets. Both Johnson and Vickery won three matches against other up-and-coming American players and collected the wild card. The USTA has a reciprocal agreement with Tennis Australia.

Even Duval’s history at Life Time Athletic at Peachtree Corners (she trained here for a few years), could not help her raise her game on an indoor hard court on a rain-soaked day in Georgia. Her long forehand stroke and accurate placements couldn’t help her overcome Vickery’s tenacious power.

Vickery delivered repeated body blows, determined to keep Duval off balance and unready for her next groundstrokes. She was consistently coming up with one more shot and relying on her power off both wings.

At 2-5 in the first set Duval double faulted to set up a set point. Then, Vickery shows rare variety and delivers a drop shot Duval can’t handle. First set: Vickery.

Throughout the second set, Vickery kept up the attack while Duval showed a lack of intensity. Even though Vickery’s second serve was very attackable, Duval didn’t put up much resistance.

Vickery and Duval who made a big splash in last year’s US Open, moved to 2-2 in the third set but then Duval lost her way. Vickery slammed an ace up the T and followed up with a nice drop shot. Later in the set Duval was unhappy with first serve let call and lost the point. Then, Vickery sailed a super defensive lob up near the lights that dropped right smack on the baseline. With that break, Vickery moved on to put away the match.

In a post-match press conference, Vickery said, “I was getting ready to go to Auckland, and my coach was like, ‘Well you might get in.’ She called both her mother, Paula Liverpool, and her coach, USTA National Coach Kathy Rinaldi, after the match. “So, I was like, ‘Yeah, we’ll see what happens. If it happens, great. If not, I have qualies.’ … I’m very religious, and my mom always says God puts things in situations for a reason.”

Sandgren Lets One Slip Away

One match point. One shot at an entry into the Australian Open main draw. One double fault.

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Steve Johnson takes down Tennys Sandgren in five. Ron Cioffi/TR.net

That was the disappointing story for Sandgren. He had Johnson in his sight, after winning the first set and then crushing him with a bagel in the third.The final count was 4-6, 6-3, 0-6, 7-6(5), 6-1 with the former University of Tennessee star Sandgren watching a match he could have won come up in the loss column.

In the fourth set’s twelfth game, Sandgren had his sole match point. But, Johnson pounded another ace.

The momentum went back to the Tennessean in the tiebreak, as Sandgren had two-point leads as late as 5-3. But, Johnson proved a quick-handed return of serve can be a heart-breaker. He took the last four points and escaped.

“I just kind of ran the best play I could. Luckily, it worked, and here we are,” Johnson said. “That’s just tennis. He’s one point away from winning, and 20 minutes later I’m up a break and trying to squeeze him for another one. … I’m excited to finally win a five-set match,” he said. “I’m 0-for-4 in life, 0-for-3 this year, so I’m glad to get one.”

Johnson was contemplating withdrawing from the tournament because of a leg injury.

The fifth set was all Johnson. Even though he experienced some leg problems earlier in the match, he pickup up steam while Sandgren continually bent his legs and seemed to be stretched beyond his endurance. Johnson found new confidence at the net, angling off winners and using his overhead effectively.