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The US Open: Halep out; Townsend, Kudla rising

August 30, 2019 by
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.

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Serena won’t play this year, so who will be No. 1?

April 21, 2017 by Leave a Comment

Kerber, Pliskova, Cibulkova, Halep and more

The great Serena Williams is pregnant now, and she will not play this year. Or the beginning of 2018. Or never. We won’t find out until the 35-year-old decides if she will want to stay at home, or get on the court to wrap up her career.

But that is a different discussion.

Now, the other very good WTA competitors will face off and will determine who will end the season at No. 1. It’s only April and they have a long way to go. But, outside of Serena, very few have played fantastic this year.

Here is the top 7 players who have a chance to gain, or to stay, at No. 1.

Angie Kerber
The current No. 1 has had a very tough year. Clearly, when she is feeling good mentally, she is so stable and aggressive. However, when she is feeling nervous in must-win situations, she backs up. There is no pressure, except in Germany, where the expectations run high. If she finds her balance, then she will win her third major. Perhaps at RG? Perhaps.

Karolina Pliskova
At times, she plays so good, with incredible power. But, at other times, her brain melts down. She reached the semis at IW and Miami, which was just fine, but then she went down against Svetlana Kuznetsova and Caro Wozniacki. Not bad, but not great. The now No. 3 almost won the 2016 US Open, but right at the end, she was not comfortable. She can snare No. 1, but in order to do so, she has to win her first major. Maybe on hardcourts at the US Open.

Domi Cibulkova
The No. 4 has improved a lot over the past three years. She may be small, but she is so strong and rarely gets tired. She has gone deep at all four majors. She did reach the final at the 2014 Aussie, but couldn’t grab it (against Li Na). She hasn’t done much this year, but soon, she will rise. Can she win a Slam? I doubt it.

Simona Halep
At times, she has been so close to winning a Grand Slam, but she has can’t put together a perfect two weeks. This year, the No. 5 has been really struggling, not because she is injured, but because her focus is through glassy eyes. In 2014, she reached the final at Roland Garros. She ran and ran and ran and was trying to exhaust Maria Sharapova, but in the last two games in the third set — over three hours — Sharapova went for it, while Halep just stood there and lost. The Romanian can reach the final at RG, and this time, she will win it for the first time.

Garbiñe Muguruza
The positive is that last year in the 2016 Roland Garros final against Serena, the No. 6 Muguruza was super aggressive and accurate. She won the title, she was so happy and smiled for months. Except she hasn’t won a tournament since then. Yes, she loves clay, but she gets injured a ton. If the Spaniard begins to feel healthy, she can get on a roll. For sure, she wants to win RG once again.

Johanna Konta
The Brit improves week after week and at Miami, she beat Halep, Venus and Wozniacki to win it. She was ultra-aggressive off both sides. In the past two years, the No. 7 has changed her outlook and if she continues upwards, she can win either Wimbledon and/or the US Open. But she has continue to improve her consistentency.

Aga Radwanska
There were many, many years that the Pole was ready to win a Slam, but for whatever reason, towards the end, her forehand and second serve were too weak to carry her to victory. Obviously, her backhand is fantastic, as is her wonderful speed and various shots. But, she has played poorly this season. The No. 8 does not seem happy, which means that unless she turns it around in rapid speed, then she will fall further.

Maria Sharapova in action at the 2015 WTA Finals

OTHER PLAYERS
The five-time Slam champion Maria Sharapova will return next week after spending 15 months suspended after doping. Yes, as she said, she messed it up, but she loves tennis and even though many players will crucify her, she still will try as hard as she could. The former No. 1 always will.

Another former champ, Vika Azarenka will come back in July after having her first child. She has been No. 1, and she will be once again. She is very intense and she has matured a great deal.
The No. 11 Caro Wozniacki is playing much better this year, but once she reaches the final, she gets very nervous. If she can take a deep breath, then maybe — and I mean maybe — the former No. 1 can finally win a major.

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Wimbledon, Day 2: Who did what? Murray, Federer, Querrey, Kvitova, Bouchard, Halep & more

July 1, 2015 by Leave a Comment

Can Tsonga find new life under Rasheed?

Can Tsonga find new life under Rasheed?

 

 

Andy Murray is so un-concerned about the outside the 20 guys that he seems to know exactly what he’s doing. To me, he’s the favorite to win the title once again and he looked fairly good to knock off Mikhail Kukushkin 6-4 7-6(3) 6-4.

Many folks think that the time Wimbledon champion Rafa Nadal doesn’t have a great shot, but eventually he will come back again and he looks pretty darn and smoking Thomaz Bellucci 6-4 6-2 6-4.

Perhaps Jo-Wilfried Tsonga will stay healthy during this week, and he hung in there to tough out the lefty   Gilles Muller 7-6(8) 6-7(3) 6-4 3-6 6-2, but he is not going to make his knees fall apart again?

The American Sam Querrey says that he is much happier on the grass rather than clay. As he said, he just can’t go deep on the red dirt. So now the 27 year old can hit his serve very hard, blast his forehand and on occasion, coming into net. He was quite happy after beating   Igor Sijsling 7-5 6-3 6-4. Guess who has to play in the second round? Roger Federer? A serious underdog.

Does the seven time Wimbledon champion Roger Federer have a real chance to win a major again? It’s been three now which is a long time, but nobody can mix it on the grass like he can. He crushed Damir Dzumhur 6-1 6-3 6-3.

The huge serve Samuel Groth upset the young American Jack Sock 6-3 3-6 6-3 6-3. Sock was clearly hurt with his left knee and his arm. He appeared to be a lot of pain. He will have a decent shot of reaching the top 20 by the US Open, but he has to make sure that he is healthy and not over do it.

The young teenager has a ways to go, but in the very least Borna Coric doesn’t appear to give up, especially at the Slams. He beat Sergiy Stakhovsky 4-6 7-6(5) 6-2 1-6 9-7. My he can smoke the ball.

THE WOMEN 

Props to Jana Cepelova for playing quite well, but the world No. 3 Simona Halep faded again, falling 5-7 6-4 6-3. Halep has looked excellent on the hard courts this year, but she was so-so on clay, and she has been mentally checked out

The defending champion Petra Kvitova says that she is still a little bit ill, but she played excellent ball and thrashed Kiki Bertens 6-1 6-0. In the side of the draw, she is the favorite to reach the final. Can she possible beat Serena Williams? Perhaps not, but if she were banging the balls cleanly she would have a legitimate chance.

Caroline Wozniacki has never loved the grass but her section is wide open. She was pretty pleased to best Zheng Saisai 7-5 6-0. If she can play aggressive, she could go far.

The left-hander Angelique Kerber has dictated with her forehand over the past four months, and that is what she did to beat Carina Witthoeft 6-0 6-0. Kerber can certainly reach the semifinal.

Way to go for Duan Yingying who upset the 2014 Wimbledon final Genie Bouchard 7-6(3) 6-4. Bouchard went out there with a small tear and perhaps she shouldn’t have played anyway, but she wanted to try in London and hang around this week. But once again, she lost quickly and she will have to go back to square one.

Perhaps Agnieszka Radwanska is still is shaky mentally but over the past 2 and half weeks she has improved. She looked happy be beating Lucie Hradecka 6-3 6-2. If she can get to the fourth round vs. Kvitova, watch out.

 

 

 

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