US Open: Emma Raducanu one win away from qualifying but Fran Jones loses
Britain’s Emma Raducanu is one win away from the US Open main draw after beating Mariam Bolkvadze in the second round of qualifying.
Britain’s Emma Raducanu is one win away from the US Open main draw after beating Mariam Bolkvadze in the second round of qualifying.
Former champion Andy Murray will face Greek world number three Stefanos Tsitsipas in the first round of the US Open.
Novak Djokovic’s quest to complete the Grand Slam will begin against a qualifier following Thursday’s release of the US Open draw. In the second round he could face big-hitting German all-court player Jan-Lennard Struff, who took a set from the Serb at the 2020 Australian Open.
In the third round, the World No. 1 could meet former finalist Kei Nishikori or 27th seed David Goffin and in the fourth round is seeded to meet either Aslan Karatsev, whom he defeated in the Australian Open semi-finals, or Australian 14th seed Alex de Minaur.
Should Djokovic reach the quarter-finals, he could meet sixth seed Matteo Berrettini, whom he beat in the Wimbledon final or Polish 10th seed Hubert Hurkacz.
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Interesting first-round matches include World No. 3 Stefanos Tsitsipas against 2012 champion and former World No. 1 Andy Murray.
Who’s ready for this Round 1 blockbuster? ?♂️@steftsitsipas and @andy_murray will meet for the first time in their careers!#USOpen pic.twitter.com/DjF8zS31x8
— US Open Tennis (@usopen) August 26, 2021
Unseeded Australian Nick Kyrgios, perhaps the most dangerous floater, will play gritty Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut, while Briton Cameron Norrie, who is enjoying a breakout season, will play 18-year-old Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz.
Second seed Daniil Medvedev will play French veteran Richard Gasquet. Top-ranked American John Isner will face 20-year-old countryman Brandon Nakashima.
Fourth seed Alexander Zverev, who is riding an 11-match winning streak and who toppled Djokovic en route to the Tokyo Olympics gold medal, could meet the 20-time Grand Slam champion in the semi-finals.
The German opens against big-serving American Sam Querrey. He is seeded to meet Alexander Bublik in the third round, #NextGenATP Jannik Sinner in the fourth round and seventh-seeded Canadian Denis Shapovalov or ninth-seeded Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta in the quarter-finals.
Some ? first-round matches this year at the #USOpen
?? Tsitsipas v. Murray ??
?? Medvedev v. Gasquet ??
?? Bautista Agut v. Kyrgios ??
?? Ruud v. Tsonga ??
?? Norrie v. Alcaraz ??
?? Isner v. Nakashima ??— ATP Tour (@atptour) August 26, 2021
Third seed Stefanos Tsitsipas could see plenty of British action, facing Murray in the first round and potentially Cameron Norrie in the third round. The Greek is seeded to meet Chilean Cristian Garin in the fourth round and in-form Russian fifth seed Andrey Rublev in the quarter-finals.
Rublev, a finalist last week at the Western & Southern Open, begins against a qualifier. On paper, Rubelv would appear to have a smooth path to the fourth round, where he could face the last man standing from a tricky section that includes 12th seed Felix Auger-Aliassime, first-round combatants Bautista Agut and Kyrgios, and Finn Emil Ruusuvuori.
If he wins his opener against Gasquet, 2019 finalist Medvedev is seeded to meet 2014 champion Marin Cilic in the third round. In the fourth round the Russian could meet 15th seed Grigor Dimitrov, in what would be a replay of their 2019 semi-final, or 24th seed Daniel Evans.
Diego Schwartzman, who could play former finalist Kevin Anderson in the second round, is seeded to meet Medvedev in the quarter-finals.
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The Australian Open’s tournament boss says that a two-week biosecure bubble will replace hotel quarantine for the 2022 tournament.
#NextGenATP Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz erased a second-set blip and regrouped emphatically as he saw off fourth seed Marton Fucsovics for a place in the Winston-Salem Open quarter-finals on Wednesday. The 18-year-old advanced to his second tour-level quarter-final of the season 6-3, 0-6, 6-2.
In a first ATP Head2Head meeting between the pair, Alcaraz steadied the ship after he lost the second set in 30 minutes. He broke in the opening game of the deciding set and it was just the reset he required as he carried the shift in momentum to the finish line after two hours and seven minutes.
“Well it has been a great match, a really, really tough match. In the second set I went down absolutely… and I went up [on] my serve a little bit to start the third… I [thought] I could do it. Really happy to get the win,” Alcaraz said in his on-court interview.
“In this match, I didn’t feel comfortable playing the long rallies. I started to… hit as hard as I can to try to make the points shorter.”
It paid dividends as the teenager won 57 per cent of first-serve points to Fucsovics’ 68 per cent but won three of six break points and saved 11 of the 14 he faced. Alcaraz, who won his first tour-level title in Umag in July, booked a clash with American Marcos Giron, a 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 winner over Frenchman Pierre-Hugues Herbert.
Giron’s compatriot Frances Tiafoe backed up his victory over Andy Murray on Tuesday with another straight-sets triumph, this time over Brazilian Thiago Monteiro. The 13th seed booked a quarter-final berth following a 7-5, 7-6(2) win in one hour and 42 minutes.
Tiafoe was dominant on serve as he claimed 86 per cent of first-serve points and 68 per cent on second-serve points. He fended off both break points faced. He will next meet Swede Mikael Ymer, a 7-5, 6-2 winner over Australian lucky loser Max Purcell.
“It was two tight sets, quick sets I felt like. I was holding pretty swiftly but would not be happy to be playing a third set,” Tiafoe said. “Tonight I served unbelievable…. If you can loosen up from the back a little you can go for it because you’re so confident. Hopefully I can serve like that the rest of the week.”
Christopher Eubanks’s hopes of a second US Open main draw berth received a boost on Wednesday, following the 25-year-old’s upset of third seed Daniel Elahi Galan in the first round of qualifying.
The No. 216 in the FedEx ATP Rankings needed just under an hour to post a 6-3, 6-2 victory over the Colombian and in the process snapped a three-match losing streak following back-to-back ATP Challenger defeats and a tour-level loss in Washington, D.C. Eubanks – who won an ATP Challenger title in Orlando, Florida, in June – converted four of six break points and was dominant on serve.
The American fired 10 aces and won 83 per cent of first-serve points to set up a showdown with India’s Prajnesh Gunneswaran, a 6-4, 7-6(5) winner over Canadian Brayden Schnur. Eubanks’ only previous trip to a US Open main draw came two years ago, when as a wild card he fell to 31st seed Cristian Garin in five sets.
Croatian Ivo Karlovic ensured the last tournament of his career extended at least one more match in US Open qualifying. On Court 16, the 42-year-old denied Serbian Nikola Milojevic 6-4, 7-6(1) in 86 minutes.
Karlovic, whose best result at Flushing Meadows was a run to the fourth round in 2016, lost only six points on serve and struck 18 aces. The former World No. 14 next meets Bolivian 17th seed Hugo Dellien, a 6-1, 6-3 winner over Italian Alessandro Giannessi.
Australian Thanasi Kokkinakis’ bid for a first US Open main draw berth in two years got off to a solid start on Wednesday with a 7-5, 6-3 victory over American Bjorn Fratangelo. The former World No. 69 pushed third seed Stefanos Tsitsipas to five sets in the second round of the Australian Open in February but has endured a frustrating run since.
The 25-year-old’s two standout results in 2021 have been at ATP Challenger level, with a title on clay in Biella, Italy and a semi-final appearance in Lexington, in the US, last month. Kokkinakis next meets Yuichi Sugita, following the Japanese player’s 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 triumph over Spain’s Mario Vilella Martinez.
Former World No. 10 Ernests Gulbis had his best showing at Flushing Meadows 14 years ago when he made the fourth round on debut. On Wednesday, he moved a step closer to a first US Open main draw berth since 2017 when he pulled off a 6-3, 6-4 win over Australian 26th seed Marc Polmans. Filip Horansky is next after the Slovak’s 7-6(4), 7-6(9) win over Denmark’s Mikael Torpegaard.
Top seed Pablo Carreno Busta claimed his third win from as many hard-court events against Dominik Koepfer to reach the quarter-finals of the Winston-Salem Open on Wednesday.
The 2016 champion backed up his wins over the German at the Tokyo Olympics and at last week’s Western & Southern Open to improve to 3-0 in the pair’s ATP Head2Head series with a 6-2, 6-3 victory. The Spaniard, who beat World No. 1 Novak Djokovic for the bronze medal in Tokyo, continued his run of hard-court form for his third straight quarter-final berth.
“It was a very good match. I think I played very aggressively today, I made a lot of winners,” Carreno Busta said. “I played against him the last two tournaments so it was important to me at the beginning of the match to be very focused and play very aggressive so I think this was a very good match for me.
“I’m feeling really comfortable playing this year, also. We know next we have the US Open but day by day I need the confidence, I need the rhythm. I think that I’m playing at a really good level so I would like to continue this way.”
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Carreno Busta won 82 per cent of first-serve points and 53 per cent on second-serve points in the 67-minute victory. It set a quarter-final clash with Belarusian Ilya Ivashka, an earlier 6-2, 6-1 winner over German ninth seed Jan-Lennard Stuff.
“I think it was a great match from me. I did everything that I had to do. I was very accurate with the returns. In my game, I was serving really well,” Ivashka said.
“Yesterday was a very tough match losing a set and a break down in the second [against Marin Cilic] and then I found my game… I think today I continued the same way.”
Former No.7 in the FedEx ATP Rankings, Richard Gasquet, recovered from a dip in intensity in the second set as he saw off third seed Daniel Evans to book his first quarter-final in Winston-Salem since 2016. From 1-4 down in the second set, the Frenchman found his groove to post a 6-4, 7-6(4) win in an hour and 51 minutes.
Gasquet won 73 per cent of first-serve points, 56 per cent of second-serve points and broke once in each set. He will next meet Finland’s Ruusuvuori, a 6-4, 4-6, 6-1 winner over Gasquet’s compatriot, 12th seed Benoit Paire.
“I had confidence after winning the first set. I fought a lot in the second set, he started to play better, to be more aggressive and I tried to fight so it was important for me to win the second set,” Gasquet said. “The third [set], you never know what could happen so I’m really happy with how I played.
“I’m playing well. I won two difficult matches, especially with the conditions – it’s very hot and humid – so it’s always a tough battle for everyone but I managed to win and I hope to do the same tomorrow.”
British number one Dan Evans is knocked out in the third round of the Winston-Salem Open by France’s Richard Gasquet.