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'One of the best moments of my life': Love meets tennis for McDonald & Mateas

  • Posted: Aug 31, 2024

Americans Mackenzie McDonald and Maria Mateas are playing for more than just a trophy in the US Open mixed doubles draw. The dating partners are competing to stay together longer.

Mateas, who also played in women’s qualifying singles, was scheduled to fly to Europe on Saturday to continue her journey. But the wild cards defeated Fabrice Martin and Alexandra Panova 6-4, 2-6, 10-8 on Friday to remain in the draw and, more importantly, by one another’s side.

“This means we get to spend more days together too, because there are tournaments right around the corner,” said McDonald, who lost to Jannik Sinner in the first round of singles. “Our days being on Tour, both of us, it’s a lot. So we cherish every moment we get together.”

The partners of two and a half years simultaneously said “I hope so” when asked if Mateas might have to miss a tournament because of their efforts in New York.

Both players’ smiles lit up the US Open media centre. Their excitement was unmistakable.

“Amazing,” Mateas said. “This is actually one of the best moments of my life. I’m so happy right now. It’s actually crazy.”

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McDonald added: “I was actually pretty nervous there. But yeah, I guess my excitement showed at the end. It was really fun. We had a great time out there, but to get a win was actually really, really cool, because we had a tough loss last year, but I’m happy we bounced back this year and got a ‘dub’.”

“We went out and there was only one person in the stands, so we were like, ‘Oh, this is good. We won’t get nervous’. And then in the breaker, it was full,” Mateas said. “It was so fun. We wanted the opportunity again so bad, because last year was my first ever Grand Slam match, and I was so nervous.

“Obviously we know each other better than anyone, but I didn’t want to let him down in a way. I don’t know. And then this year, I just went out there, and I just wanted to have a lot of fun and really enjoy it no matter what. And we definitely did that.”

It has been the best season of Mateas’ career — she is at a career-high No. 190 in the PIF WTA Rankings. At the end of last season, McDonald accompanied her to Santo Domingo, where the former Duke standout won her first title in five years.

“That kind of set off this year that I’ve had,” Mateas said.

“[I] might have had a little bit more time on my schedule [because of my shoulder] than I would have liked,” McDonald said. “But it really helped her.”

According to the couple, they will likely be apart for two months after the US Open. But they FaceTime “more than anyone we know” to try to feel together even when they are not.

“It’s nice having someone else that understands what you do,” McDonald said. “And even beyond that, we help each other and push each other to make sure we’re doing the right things and everything, too.”

The former No. 37 in the PIF ATP Rankinga added: “I’ve got a lot of work to do to get my ranking back to where I want to be, and that’s going to take playing a lot of tournaments and winning a lot of matches, maybe even at the Challenger level. It’s nice that I have someone… that is going to be supporting me to get back to my ranking.”

“We’re ready for it,” Mateas added.

Some couples bicker on court, but it was abundantly clear how much the Americans enjoyed their time together on Court 6. Their smiles remained well after the match. But who is the boss on the court?

“There is really no boss. And I mean this genuinely, I’m not just saying this, on or off the court,” Mateas said. “I think my word kind of holds more weight in a way, off the court. But on the court, he ran it for sure. He’s much better at his job than I am, so I have a lot of learning to do from him still.”

They will next face Italian third seeds Sara Errani and Andrea Vavassori. Could the home favourites enjoy a storybook run to the title?

“I don’t know if we can put the ‘T’ word out there yet. We’ll take it one match at a time. We’ll see,” McDonald said. “Honestly, just having another night of dinner, knowing that we’re not going to be leaving tomorrow, is big. Honestly having another day is huge. So yeah, we’ll really enjoy it as much as we can.”

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Djokovic upset no surprise for Popyrin: 'It was something I thought I could do’

  • Posted: Aug 31, 2024

Alexei Popyrin’s victory against Novak Djokovic at the US Open may have come as a seismic shock to many, but it did not come as a huge surprise to the man himself.

Popyrin believes that his big-hitting game has always had the potential to trouble the game’s elite. Rather, stringing high-level performances together consistently has been the challenge for the 25-year-old, whose straight-sets victory against Djokovic inside Arthur Ashe Stadium came just 18 days after he earned a stunning maiden ATP Masters 1000 title in Montreal.

“For me, winning Montreal was way bigger than today, just because it’s a title, and it’s a Masters 1000 title,” reflected Popyrin after his 6-4, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 win against Djokovic on Friday night. “That felt unbelievable. Today was something that I kind of thought I could do, you know? Winning a Masters 1000 was not something that kind of crossed my head.

“My two experiences against [Djokovic] earlier this year at the Australian Open and Wimbledon kind of gave me the confidence to go out there tonight and believe that I could win, and actually do it and believe it. So when I did it, it kind of felt that proved me right, proved what I was thinking was right. It wasn’t something that was unbelievable.”

Having pushed Djokovic to four sets earlier this year at both the Australian Open and Wimbledon, Popyrin was delighted with the way he improved mentally to get over the line this time around.

“It was a pretty solid performance from my side,” said the Australian. “Honestly, I said before the match that the last two matches that I had, I didn’t take my chances, and today I managed to take my chances.

“I would say level-wise it probably wasn’t the highest level. I think because I have had some matches where I have played and felt way better than I felt out there today. I think the way I composed myself and the way I tactically played the match, that was up there with one of the best matches that I have played.”

As fans who followed his exploits in Montreal earlier this month will know, Popyrin is a charismatic on-court presence who appears to thrive in big atmospheres. That was certainly the case on Friday, when it may not have been obvious to onlookers that the Australian was making his debut inside the largest tennis stadium in the world.

“I stepped out on Arthur Ashe about 20 minutes before the actual match and that was the first time I have ever been on Arthur Ashe, just to kind of get a gauge of how the stadium looked and how big it was,” said Popyrin. “The crowd was amazing. They kind of stepped up. When I hit those passing shots, it was quite amazing to feel the crowd on my side. I managed to kind of win them over towards the end of the match, which was amazing.”

The No. 28 in the PIF ATP Rankings Popyrin can expect an equally vibrant atmosphere for his next match, when he takes on home favourite and 2022 semi-finalist Frances Tiafoe in the fourth round. Although the two players know each other well. it will be their maiden Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting.

“He’s actually a really good friend of mine,” said Popyrin of Tiafoe. “We get along really well off the court. It will be interesting to play against him. We have practised a bunch of times. He’s a very tricky player. Probably has one of the best hands on Tour, comes into the net a lot, likes to mix it up. That’s going to be the tough part.

“Honestly, playing Frances will be quite an experience because there has been a few times where I have kind of lost the round before having to play Frances, and he’s always telling me, ‘Man, why do you keep losing before we play each other?’ Luckily this time I was able to do it and hopefully it will be a good match.”

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Djokovic: 'I've played some of the worst tennis I've ever played'

  • Posted: Aug 31, 2024

Novak Djokovic made abundantly clear his disappointment with his level after a stunning third-round loss to Alexei Popyrin on Friday at the US Open.

“Congratulations to him and his team. He definitely played better and deserved to win today,” Djokovic said. “On my end, honestly, the way I felt and the way I played from the beginning of this tournament, third round is a success. I mean, I have played some of the worst tennis I have ever played, honestly, serving by far the worst ever.”

Djokovic hit a stunning 32 double faults in his three matches at Flushing Meadows, including 14 against Popyrin (his record high for a Slam match). The 24-time major champion dropped serve five times against the Australian.

“If you play on a quick surface like this without the serve, without [the] ability to win free points there, very low first-serve percentage, many double faults, then you can’t win,” Djokovic said. “You can’t win, especially against the guys who are in form like Alexei who is serving big, puts a lot of pressure on your service game. Yeah, it was just an awful match for me.”

Earlier this month, Djokovic surged to one of the highest highs of his career at the Paris Olympics, where he produced a memorable performance to defeat Carlos Alcaraz for the gold medal. But the Serbian, who did not play a hard-court tournament before arriving in New York, never found the same level at the season’s final major.

“It’s a different surface. Obviously it had an effect. I spent a lot of energy winning the gold, and I did arrive to New York just not feeling fresh mentally and physically,” Djokovic said. “But because it’s [the] US Open, I gave it a shot and I tried my best. I didn’t have any physical issues. I just felt out of gas and you could see that with the way I played.

“Just from the very beginning, from the first match, I just didn’t find myself at all on this court. It’s all I can say. Life moves on. I [will] just try and recalibrate and look for what’s next.”

Djokovic explained that it was “a big struggle mentally” to compete at the US Open, where he is a four-time champion. He admitted to never playing close to his best tennis.

“It’s not good to be in that kind of state where you feel okay physically, and of course you’re motivated because it’s a Grand Slam, but you just are not able to find your game. That’s it,” Djokovic said. “The game is falling apart, and I guess you have to accept that tournaments like this happen.

“You could argue that it’s because of the Olympics, but I don’t know. I don’t want to analyse that right now. I was just looking to really improve my game here on a daily basis, but it just didn’t happen.”

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The 37-year-old tallied a 16-3 record at the Grand Slam tournaments this year, marking the first season in which he has not claimed a major trophy since 2017. His best result came at Wimbledon, where Djokovic made the final before falling to Alcaraz.

The 99-time tour-level titlist’s defeat to Popyrin marks his earliest exit at a Slam since the 2017 Australian Open, where he lost to Denis Istomin in the second round.

“Fresh off the court, you have a bitter taste in your mouth and you don’t like losing, even though I had so many more wins than losses in this tournament and really any other. So I have to draw the line,” Djokovic said. “Sitting from a larger perspective, of course I have to be content. It’s hard to see the big perspective right now. You’re just angry and upset that you lost and the way you played and that’s it. But tomorrow is a new day, and I will obviously think about what to do next.”

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Goffin contemplated retirement, now surging at US Open

  • Posted: Aug 31, 2024

David Goffin has reached the second week at every major, climbed to No. 7 in the PIF ATP Rankings, made the championship match at the Nitto ATP Finals and claimed six ATP Tour titles. The 33-year-old Belgian has nothing to prove and at the end of last season, sitting outside the world’s Top 100, contemplated his future.

“I was like, ‘Oof, what am I doing? I am playing so bad. I cannot hold my racquet anymore. What do we do now? Is it enough for me or not? Can I do it physically? Am I still as fast as before? The endurance, is it still there or not? The tennis, am I too late?’” said Goffin, who was struggling with his knee at the time. “I don’t know. A lot of doubts.”

The Belgian was not battling for tour-level titles, but spots in main draws. Was it worth fighting for that? Goffin had a decision to make.

“I still have the feeling that I have good tennis in my racquet,” Goffin thought. “I just want to show and prove to myself that I can still do it.”

The four-time major quarter-finalist is showing that this week at the US Open, where he is into the third round. It is the first time he has advanced that far at this event since 2020, when he claimed an electric four-setter against Adrian Mannarino in the fourth round.

“It’s like a drug, especially when it’s a win like that because it’s a great fight. You suffer a lot, but it’s good to suffer like that. You suffer physically, but the match, you like it,” Goffin said. “Sometimes the past few months were tough because I was struggling with my confidence and my game. So you suffer, but more inside with yourself. So it’s not easy, it’s not a good fight.

“But when you fight with your opponent and you like it, you feel your legs, tough rallies, and you just try to stay there and win that match, it’s something that I will enjoy.”

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A key moment came in the first round at Roland Garros, where Goffin defeated Frenchman Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard in five sets. After losing that match, Mpetshi Perricard became the talk of the tennis world with his big serving at Wimbledon, where he made the fourth round.

“Every win in a Grand Slam is something special, because you have to win it. Especially in best of five, it’s tough and it’s a great feeling. I think [the match against Mpetshi Perricard] was a key match in my comeback,” Goffin said. “It was a really important one because I proved to myself that I was able to win a good fight again.”

In his mind, the victory was a signal that there would be more big wins like it in the future. There was reason to continue pushing forward.

“You have to put in a lot of work, you have to make a good schedule, a good structure with the team. That’s what I did with my team and it came back — it paid off week after week,” Goffin said. “All of the sudden I’m close to the Top 50. It’s something you see now, it looks easy, but it was not the past few months.”

Goffin will play Tomas Machac for a place in the fourth round. These are the opportunities for which he has been working hard.

“It’s a different feeling because I feel that now, coming back from where I was a year ago, I am feeling stronger than before,” Goffin said. “Especially mentally because I built from zero something that maybe is stronger than before. Of course, I’m turning 34 this year and you cannot turn back the clock, but I think I can be stronger mentally and hopefully it will help me to do some great tournaments in the future.”.

To top it all off, Goffin and his wife, Stephanie, are expecting their first child.

“I’m super excited. I’m so happy with my wife. It’s going to be in two weeks, mid-September,” Goffin said. “She’s calling me every day so I’m under stress every day, seeing if I have to go back or not. But everything is under control, I can finish the tournament. But we are very excited.

“It is something also that inspired me to show my little girl that her dad is a great tennis player and prove to her that I can be a good tennis player again. When she will be like one or two, in two years, maybe she will understand a little bit more tennis and what I am doing and hopefully she will be proud.”

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Popyrin has Djokovic on the ropes at US Open

  • Posted: Aug 31, 2024

Alexei Popyrin is threatening to deliver the second shocking US Open upset in as many nights after taking a two-sets lead over defending champion Novak Djokovic inside Arthur Ashe Stadium Friday night.

Bringing the same brand of Big Man Tennis to Arthur Ashe Stadium as he rode to victory to claim his maiden ATP Masters 1000 title in Montreal earlier this month, the Australian outmuscled Djokovic on serve and from the baseline with a fearless brand of tennis that has taken him to a 6-4, 6-4 lead.

Less than 24 hours ago third seed and 2022 champion Carlos Alcaraz crashed out of the tournament, beaten in straight sets by Dutchman Botic van de Zandschulp.

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