Konjuh defeats Radwanska advancing to first quarterfinal major

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Agnieszka Radwanska suffered a huge defeat at the US Open Monday night. A tremendous fight from 2013 US Open junior champion Ana Konjuh held her end before defeating the fourth seed twice winning in straight sets 6-4, 6-4 at Arthur Ashe Stadium to make the quarterfinals for the first time in any major. The 18-year-old had such a huge serve on the forehand that was clearly too much for the fourth seed to handle.

This was the second major the two met and with the current being a more important spot for the two of them, gaining a hand on the match was key. Konjuh knew the importance of it when she put Radwanska in a challenge pushing the match to three sets before the world number four took the victory. The Pole took care of Caroline Garcia in the third round winning it in straight sets while allowing five games.

The Croatian had a second three setter in the tournament getting past Varvara Lepchenko after a dismal second set finishing strong. With her being able to get the best of Radwanska, she’ll push the envelope by any means to get herself into a quarterfinal spot in any major for the first time.

The two began to feel each other out to start the set. Radwanska got clean through her opening serve while Konjuh showed signs of struggle. The start of being on a large stage was difficult for the 18-year-old Croatian giving up the break to the top seeded Pole. She came back to fight on the returns delivering big shots to get ahead on the break. A second break point opportunity paid off to get her on the board smacking the ball out of the reach of Radwanska.

Her second service game became a sign of control and growth to take on the world number four. She attacked hard to get out 40-0 and evened up with a big hit that forced an error out of Radwanska. After the fourth seed got an important hold, she hoped to break the monotony and get gap open on the young Croatian. Her opponent knew well of the consequences of that holding strong on defense before capping a solid rally with a backhanded winner.

Radwanska continued to see the strong opposition as she found herself in a deuce draw. Konjuh battled for another break and got it after two breaks that gave her the lead and the chance to open the door wide for her own benefit. She took it with her use of big the forehand, holding to two game points and a 5-3 lead for the set.

Finding herself in a corner, Radwanska knew she had to prevent going down on her own serve. She got to 40-0 hunting for the important game point. Konjuh gave her one tremendous fight in a rally before a lobbed shot just fell long of the baseline ending the dramatic moment. The ball was back in Konjuh’s hands with the obvious pressure of closing out the set.

It was the moment for the fourth seed to get back in and save herself from going a set down. She gained hold on deuce, lost it and watched the 18-year-old get the upper hand by winning set point that came on a smash followed by an unforced error by Radwanska ending 43 minutes.

Knowing that she needed a huge response in the second set, Radwanska held her end much like she did in the first. What she didn’t expect was the hold from the Croatian who was obviously on fire carrying so much confidence with her. The pressure was on the Polish superstar to keep up her own end of the game and wait for Konjuh to break. She clearly had high hopes as Konjuh

had control of her serve in the eighth smashing a shot across the net. She was a stunning force on court serving near 70 percent yet scored nearly 90 percent for points against the fourth seed.

The young Croatian added a sour note to Radwanska’s service smashing the returns adding pressure during the rallies. It helped her to two break points capturing it on the second try smashing another shot in the open side. The serve was back in Konjuh’s hands going for one of the biggest upsets in her career. Before she could start, a loud feedback from the PA scared everyone including the Croatian. “I just said to myself to stay in the game and don’t rush,” Konjuh said to ESPN’s Rennae Stubbs.

She rallied back to stay on point, gaining two match points before an unforced error gave her the massive victory after 1 hour and 19 minutes.  “I remembered at Wimbledon I had two match points and I couldn’t let the opportunity go so I just went for it this time,” she said after the match.

It was the fifth time that the Polish star couldn’t make it out of the fourth round suffering one of the toughest losses at the Billy Jean King National Tennis Center. “Aga is an incredible player and I’m happy to have the opportunity to play her again and this time I got revenge so I’m really happy,” Konjuh said.

She’d get the chance for a first semifinal spot going against Czech star Karolina Pliskova on Wednesday. “We’ve practiced a few time so I know how she plays,” she said. “So it’s gonna be a tough match but I’m gonna give my best as always and hope it’ll be a great match.”

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Kerber schools Bellis to win third round at US Open

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Catherine Bellis got her moment on center court at the US Open but not a win Friday night. The 17 year old stood no chance against second-seeded Angelique Kerber who rank the match wire to wire in a 6-1, 6-1 straight sets match at Arthur Ashe Stadium. It was the 50^th win for the world number two this season and a move into the fourth round this weekend.

The German got a primetime match up for her third round against an American star who has shown plenty of fight since qualifications last weekend. The 17-year-old in her second appearance has shown her strength surpassing her second round finish in 2014. Going in against Kerber was definitely her biggest challenge since facing Serena Williams at Miami last season. While she didn’t put up much of a fight in that loss, going in against the world number two still gives her a shot at changing the tide if her game allowed her to do so.

The power of the German didn’t give in to start the opening set as Kerber through games to gain a hold of the set. She carried a three game winning streak on Bellis’s second time on service but somehow the American used everything in her arsenal of shots to hold off the top ranked German and win a game.

The cheers from the crowd for American were quickly silenced with Kerber regain her consistency to cruise to a 5-1 score. It was the seventh game where the 17-year-old put up a huge defense against Kerber on serve for the set to make her earn it. It became the longest game of the match with five breaks being recorded before she could lock down the set.

It took 31 minutes for the world number two to get to the halfway point on a 70 percent first serve notching nine winners and more unforced errors than her opponent. With the mistakes make little impact on the score, showing improvement was all Kerber needed to do on the night.

She pushed for excellence going into second taking another 3-0 run on the youngster who was clearly frustrated at not being able to play at the same degree. Kerber remained at a pace much too high for Bellis adding different shots on the rallies as well as her impeccable response on the returns. In a flash, Kerber got to 5-0 seeking to get the bagel and put a cap on her night on the court.

She served up shots across court but the teen fought to get some points that energized the crowd. In a strong response, she broke the German getting another victory on the board. When it was time to return to service, she broke apart putting too much speed on the ball during the rallies. Her final shot in the match fell far beyond the baseline sending groans through the stadium and a smile from Kerber.

“I was trying to play my game,” Kerber said to ESPN’s Mary Jo Fernandez. “I think I played a really good match tonight. I know it is to play here for the first time.” Since then she has become a dangerous player with much success in recent years. Kerber leads the WTA this season in match wins with 32 of those coming on the hard court.

A strong match would face her in the coming days taking on Petra Kvitova back at the Billy Jean King National Tennis Center on Sunday. “I’m looking forward to this challenge against Kvitova,” she said. “We’ve had great matches in the past and now I’ll try to go out there and win the match.”

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Kvitova puts a halt to Svitolina at US Open

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Petra Kvitova got out of a late jam to make the fourth round at the US Open Friday. After going up 4-0 in the second, she allowed four wins to Elina Svitolina before closing her out in straight sets 6-3, 6-4 at Louis Armstrong Stadium.  

The Czech remained the heavy favorite in the series involving Svitolina as she continued to hold off the 21-year-old. Kvitova held off the fierce Ukrainian who took out Serena Williams at the Olympics but couldn’t outduel the world number 16 in order to get to the semis.

Cagla Buyukakcay nearly gave the number 14 seed a scare in the second round but fell in straight sets leaving the notion that beating her was difficult. For Svitolina, it became a huge opportunity for her to overcome the six-foot tennis star and use her small stature to get past the obstacle that has been in her way the last three times.

The Czech star answered with a break to start the opening set but she didn’t expect her opponent to respond the same way. She did just that causing some surprise from Kvitova who while remaining on break lost her focus on service in the fourth. She handed the Ukrainian four straight points to level her back at two all for a fourth break in the set.

Kvitova regrouped after handing a fifth straight point to Svitolina breaking the 22^nd seed for the third time. With some effort coming out of Svitolina, she fought to stay near the Czech star through seven hoping to counter the actions of her second serve. The strategy didn’t work as Kvitova walked to a 5-3 hold on serve pressing Svitolina to break. The second serve of the Ukrainian couldn’t hold against the struggles handing the Czech the first set after 31 minutes.

The second began with Kvitova still being most dominant as she took a 4-0 rout on Svitolina whose second serve was still a wreck from the first. With that and her defense against the Czech a problem, it was likely to be enough fall for the Ukrainian. She began her strike back winning two off Kvitova in hopes to recover strongly.

The Czech opened the door for her in the seventh with unforced errors that allowed Svitolina to get within a game. With a three-game winning streak alive and well, the 21-year-old Ukrainian gained a ton of confidence playing one of the biggest serves of the match. The control to beating Kvitova led to a four-all tie and the chance to stay alive.

The Czech put Svitolina back in the hot seat holding service in the ninth that led her to play for the match. Every shot that Svitolina took was huge as she desperately wanted to stay in the match. Good rallies occurred between the two stars with the Ukrainian getting very upset when it was her making the mistake. She slammed her racket after giving Kvitova the lead but the damage was done giving the number 14 seed the overall victory completing 1 hour and 11 minutes of action.

The challenge for the two time Wimbledon champ was just getting started as she had second seeded Angelique Kerber or American Catherine Bellis in her sights in a fourth round match up Sunday.


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Konta dominates Bencic in third round of US Open

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Johanna Konta rushed to victory and the fourth round at the US Open. In a surprising one-sided match between two strong opponents, the British star was too much for Belinda Bencic in a 6-2, 6-1 straight set play on Grandstand court at the Billy Jean King National Tennis Center Friday. The 13^th seed had 29 winners and eight aces in a near landslide victory.

Two of the best players in the WTA matched up for a fourth time with plenty of drama coming from both sides. Bencic had trouble in her opening round but somehow turned things around against Samantha Crawford. After showing power against Germany’s Andrea Petkovic, it was clear that the 19-year-old had everything looking better.

The same couldn’t be said for the 14^th ranked British star who won her first WTA title last month. The 25-year-old crumbled apart during the second set of her second-round match due to the heat and dehydration. After recovering from the concerning moment on court, she fought back to win the match in straight sets setting up a critical moment for both players in the tournament.

Things started normally in the opening pair of games, but in the third game with Bencic on serve, the challenge soon followed. Konta forced the Swiss teen into deuce where she fought for control on the opening break point. Knowing the need to remain on hold of serve, the 19-year-old struck back and kept things locked on her end after the second break. The first break arrived in the fifth with Konta consolidating her love service with an 11^th recorded winner that gave her a 3-2 lead.

She continued racking up the winners that led her to a three-game winning streak sending Bencic nuts. A second consecutive break for the Brit came on her 15^th winner that flew by the right of the 19-year-old Swiss star who looked stunned to see the set slip away.

It was officially in the books for Konta as she reached two set points in the eighth to go up in the match after 28 minutes. She finished with three aces and 15 winners while managing a perfect first serve scoring five points from the net. With success at full throttle for the Brit, it became very difficult for Bencic to recover.

She didn’t make things any easier trying to fight fire with fire only to make it easier for Konta on points. She was handed the break in the first game getting back to work on the serve the second set. After taking a 2-0 advantage, the struggling 19-year-old held for the second time in the match staving off her troubles for a brief moment.

When Konta returned to service, she let her opponent have it firing another ace followed by winners to return her two game margin. A break made it 4-1 whose awareness of Bencic’s return let her be in full control. A final chance for Bencic arrived with her down 1-5 to stay in it or face the inevitable defeat.

On serve in the seventh Bencic fired a shot but quickly saw it come back to go down 0-15. It was at that point she threw in the towel as Konta ended the match in 52 with a solid victory. “I felt like I did a good job today with just playing the match that I had a hand in and really just trying to focus on my energy and putting every ounce of energy into the match here,” Konta said after the match.

With the ease into the fourth, the difficulty will take a step up taking on the winner between Anastasija Sevastova and Kateryna Bondarenko on Sunday.  

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Wozniacki into fourth round with straight sets victory over Niculesu

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Caroline Wozniacki had another well-rounded game that advanced her to the fourth round at the US Open. The struggling Dane who has been used to rough outings found herself able to handle Romania’s Monica Niculescu in straight sets 6-3, 6-1 at Arthur Ashe Stadium Friday afternoon on the grounds of Billy Jean King National Tennis Center.

The series between the two has been one sided with the Dane winning all six of their meetings dating back a decade. It’s been three years since they last met with all of the matches ending in straight sets. For the former number one coming off a huge win against Svetlana Kuznetsova, she’d hope that the same pattern against the Romanian would remain and move into the round of 16.

Niculescu hoped to cause trouble for Wozniacki who still showed signs of struggle in her game. The world number 58 came off a near perfect shutout in the second round and would hope to knock out the 74^th ranked player if conditions allowed her to do so.

She began with a clean break of the former number one while playing in the sun. Wozniacki struck back with her positioned in the shade giving the indication that both spots on court were to an advantage and a disadvantage. When they switched sides, the pace went to Wozniacki who managed to hold serve standing in the sun and consolidated it with a break in the fifth.

The three-game winning streak came to an end for Wozniacki after a hard fight from the Romanian on serve produced a much-needed victory to cut the margin in half. Wozniacki inched closer to capturing the set with a hard-fought seventh game that went to deuce on her serve. Niculescu pushed herself to stay alive in the set gaining another win in the eighth. As possession went back to the Dane, she got out of trouble on deuce playing the longest game of the match holding in her third set point ending 50 minutes of play.

With the lead in the match, things got slightly easier for Wozniacki going into the second set as she found her groove going on. She easily took a 3-0 run on Niculescu having plenty of the momentum until the Romanian made a stance. She fought for a break in the fourth getting on the board to prevent the runaway.

She made it a difficult task for her strong opponent making her grind out games in the process. The Dane remained lopsided at 4-1 wanting nothing more than put the match away. Wozniacki got to 5-1 adding nerves to Niculescu who had a chance to stay alive. Despite the aggression on serve and the hope of a hawk eye challenge, she couldn’t keep things together for herself ending the match in favor of Wozniacki who cleared the way into the second week of action after 1 hour and 27 minutes.

“She makes it feel like you can’t play tennis,” Wozniacki said of her opponent to ESPN’s Rennae Stubbs. “It’s like you have to mentally prepared and grind out there and it’s not pretty but at the end of the day it’s the result that matters.” Wozniacki will take on the winner between Madison Keys and Naomi Osaka in the fourth round Sunday.

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Radwanska rallies back to hold Broady in straight sets

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Agnieszka Radwanska got out of trouble to make her way to the third round of the US Open. The fourth seed overcame a strong stance from Great Britain’s Naomi Broady to come out in straight sets 7-6(9), 6-3 at Louis Armstrong Stadium Thursday night. The long delays and problems with her variety of shots nearly cost her big.

The Polish star had a solid start to the tournament dispatching Jessica Pegula very quickly in straight sets. She had another similar opponent in her way having never met her before. With the notion that some big names have been taken out, Radwanska would do everything to stay the powerful player.

The 26-year-old Brit surpassed the first round in her opening appearance but not without a fight as her first set against Laura Robson went to the brink. She impressed by returning to in the final two sets and set up a chance to get into it with the world number four.

The long rain delay prevented the two from playing at their desired time but did get underway after four and a half hours of rain falling on the court. Broady took a surprising lead hold her own through three games. She remained ahead on each service against Radwanska who wasn’t up to speed with her own game.

It led to the fourth being a fight for the Pole as she played on deuce. Broady didn’t make things easy as she fought back to retrieve control. After nearly a ten-minute game, the British star got the edge on Radwanska taking a 3-1 lead. Broady added a hold of serve to her domination of the world number four growing a serious gap in the set. Radwanska was well aware of the situation and answered with an important hold that had her running for the ball at every length of the court floor.

Though she gained a second victory, it wasn’t enough to stop the run that Broady was having. She returned to service scoring another to her name that gave her the first chance at taking a set up on Radwanska. The 27-year-old veteran to the tournament climbed her way back breaking the rookie before adding another threatening to push the set onward. “She was serving unbelievably,” Radwanska said about Broady. “Every break was huge and I was trying to focus on my serve which also wasn’t easy.”

The Pole was completely back in the match as she successfully regained all the lost ground to level the set at five all. Broady remained vigilant and kept the pressure on her experienced opponent taking a 30-0 start to her service. She gained the important 6-5 lead but it continued to prove difficult to close things out. Radwanska fired back with all she had to move into the tiebreaker in order to turn things around.

The number four seed took a 4-1 run looking to be in some comfort. It was quickly turned into a nightmare for Radwanska as she watched her lead disappear and once more found herself in a dead heat with Broady. From six points to nine, the battle for control didn’t end till the Pole gained leverage at 10-9 to win the set with an 11th point that concluded the set. It took Radwanska more time to take a 1-0 lead than it did finishing her first round match.

With the match not quite sewn up, she had to deal with more from Broady who again took her lead to be out front. After three games, the 26-year-old Brit took point on serve followed by the fourth seeded Pole. A change came in the seventh with Radwanska taking her service to consolidate it with a 5-3 run. She got the best chance to serve things for the match gaining a heavy confidence to win it on a forehanded smash from Broady into the net. It sent a rush of relief for the fourth seed who got out of a jam after 1 hour and 47 minutes.  

“The second round was obviously worse,” Radwanska said to Andrew Krasny after the match. “I was just so pleased that I can come back in the first set. That was the key set I guess. A lot of trouble; a lot of running; a lot of struggling, but two sets for me.” She’ll have to regroup for the unexpected troubles on and off the court before facing Caroline Garcia on Sunday.

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