Denis Kudla – TennisReporters.net

The US Open: Halep out; Townsend, Kudla rising

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.

Vandeweghe would love to become No.1, but very long way to go

WIMBLEDON – CoCo Vandeweghe is still very young, only 23 year old, but she has learned a lot over the past two years. In the second round at Wimbledon, she upset the world No. 11 Karolina Pliskova 7-6(5) 6-4.

On an excellent game for the Americans on Wednesday, Serena Williams, Venus Williams, Madison Keys, Sloane Stephens, Bethany Matter-Sands, John Isner and Denis Kudla all came through.

Mattel-Sands, who upended the No. 7 Ana Ivanovic in straight sets, said that the women are stronger and stronger.

“It’s great. I think we had 16 players in the main draw this year, maybe more, including some doubles players,” Mattel-Sands said. “But, no, a few years ago, I was being asked, What happened to USA tennis, and I said, Well, it comes and goes. I think there were a lot of younger players that coming that showed promise. Sure enough, I think we have a really strong contingent of American players and it’s really good to see.”

The San Diego resident Vandeweghe wasn’t afraid at all against Pliskova. She went out on court, hit huge serves and was very effective. Some people thought the Czech might out hit her, but the American knew exactly where she was going. Vandeweghe dictated her terms.

“I wasn’t nervous about playing her. I had more confidence that I was the better player,” Vandeweghe said.

“Not just because of that. I think I have more weapons than her, personally. She’s definitely the higher ranked player, she’s had the results through the year, consistently but I thought off the ground I could rally her, which I did. In the return of serve games if I got a beat on her serve I would be able to break her, which I eventually did. And I thought I could serve better than her, which I did. I really think going there that I was the better player and I should win that match.”

Vandeweghe has a tremendous amount of confidence. She can go up and down at times, but she loves the grass and last year she won a tournament at the Netherlands, grabbing seven wins and the title. A few weeks ago, she went back to the Netherlands, reaching the quarterfinals. She has been ranked inside the top 40 most of this year and she wants to move forward.

This is the first time on the Slams that she has reached the third round. Vandeweghe is ambitious and she believes that some day she could grab No. 1.

“I’ve always thought to be No.1” she said. “It’s kind of similar of going into a match and thinking for me, I’m not going to win. It’s like winning a Grand Slam, winning a gold medal, those are lifelong dreams of mine. So to put it to the way side for whatever reason, I think is silly.”

Vandeweghe admitted that when she first started on the tour, she wasn’t strategic. She was still learning to play, trying to figure it out which way she should play. In 2006, she was given a wild card at a tournament in San Diego. She had a blast, but as she admitted, she could be wild.

Now, she is much smarter.

“Maturity is probably a big thing for me,” she said. “I’ve also improved a lot in the fitness department. I’ve focused a lot on that. I’ve found my game style. I have a lot of variety, a lot of different things I can do on the court. So it was kind of reigning it all in for me. I always went and played tennis and just played. It wasn’t like game plans or if I get put in this pickle, this what’s going to happen. I’m going to serve my first serve here and I’m putting my first shot here. That was never a structure in my game till about two years ago. It was just me playing tennis.”

Vandeweghe knows Serena very well – they all do. Vandeweghe and Serena once played against each other in 2012, when Williams bested CoCo in the final. The tall and strong woman played very well then, and she has watched a close eye on the legend.

Vandeweghe respects Serena greatly and Williams leads by her example.

“I’ve faced Serena a couple of different times and it’s when you’re down a break point or you feel that momentum switch at 4-3 in the games, where most momentum changes happen in a match – I think Serena is very high up there. She definitely makes it about Serena in any match that she plays. For me, I think that’s also her own way of doing things and that’s her own killer instinct. Where she’s going to take upon herself to beat you – you’re not going to beat her. So that’s just a different mind frame.”