Photo: Mal Taam/MALTphoto
FROM THE US OPEN , SEPTEMBER 9 – American CoCo Vandeweghe pulled off an amazing victor overcoming Aga Radwanska 6-4 in the third set of the third round. Then she out-stroked Lucia Safarova in two tough sets. On Tuesday, she walked on court again, and rose up, edging the then No. 1, Katarina Pliskova. Those were three fine victories. A few years ago, Vandeweghe was barely so-so, and now she concentrates, all the time. She is not only strong, but faster, and smarter. Vandeweghe desperately wants to go even deeper at the USO.
Next up is Madison Keys and the two Americans know each other pretty well. Keys, who finally stopped being so disappointed when she wasn’t playing well, continues to battle, and she managed to push down No. 4 Elena Svitolina. Floridian Keys is a massive hitter, from her backhand to her forehand to her first serve. Over the past few years, she has played fantastic and then loses emotional control and falls off badly. Finally, she is maturing.
Once again, both of them love to bash the ball, and hit some gigantic serves. Whoever becomes gutsy will win the match.
Venus Williams vs. Stephens
We all know that Sloane Stephens is on a roll. She beat Domi Cibulkova and Anastasia Sevastova in three sets, because she is moving so well, is very confident when she has an opportunity to hit deep groundstrokes. She can run forever, and she likes going down the line.With about a doubt, Stephens has played fantastic over the past six weeks.
She and Venus Williams have played once at the ‘15 Roland Garros first round with the younger American winning 7-6, 6-1. Williams didn’t play great, and it was on clay, so this is completely different.
Venus has won this tournament twice, in 2000 and 2001. She played fantastic, but it was a long time ago. As always, Williams has a fine backhand, a big first serve and she is super cagey. She can bother Stephens because she can be quite patient. Of course, it will go three sets. Of course, they both want to win — badly. At the end, it will be who is willing to kiss the lines. Toss-up? Maybe.