ATP
All eyes on Pegula
COULD it be America’s year at the US Open?
Certainly in the women’s singles it could be with Jessica Pegula hitting form at the right time in Canada this past week.
Pegula Tok advantage of an out-of-sorts Iga Swiatek at the Canadian Open with a 6-2, 6-7 (4), 6-4 win.
And the match wasn’t without incident, the most amusing being in the second set when rock classic ‘Cotton-Eye Joe’ suddenly rang out across the Montreal Stadium.
Pegula was 4-3 up in the set and tried to hit a lob over Swiatek as the ball hit the court to be greeted by the loud music.
The point was immediately suspended as cameras caught Pegula in disbelief.
“I just thought it was funny,” Pegula said.
“I’ve never had that happen, let alone with ‘Cotton-Eye Joe.’ I was, like, is this really happening right now? Of all the songs. It was just, like, what is going on?”
The point was replayed and served as a turning point for the Pole who then won 12 straight points to take the set.
But it wasn’t enough as Pegula took out the decider and the match to make a big statement ahead of Flushing Meadows.
Most telling was the fact that Pegula broke her opponent’s serve four times in the first set, four times in the second set, and three times in the final set.
The American multi-millionaire, fourth seed in Montreal, looks ready for a deep run in New York.
“It feels great,” Pegula said after her win. “No better way to earn it, right? It was tough match. I felt like I was in control.
“But as the world number one does and a champion, she played some really great tennis at the end of the second set and in the third. So, she made me earn it.”
If she is to win in New York, she will have to maintain the level of aggression shown in this match many times over.
- Her opponent in Montreal as we write, is still unknown as rain forced the postponement of the second semifinal between Elena Rybakina and Liudmila Samsonova. The match to be played later today (Sunday).
WORLD No.1 Carlos Alcaraz was caught on camera giving the middle finger to Alejandro Davidovich Fokina on live TV in Canada.
The top seed gave fellow Spaniard the middle finger during a brief catch-up between matches as Davidovich Fokina walked past Alcaraz as he was warming up on an exercise bike.
A knock on the window and a middle finger response.
Davidovich Fokina had the last laugh, winning his match against Mackenzie Mcdonald while Alcaraz crashed out against Tommy Paul, his first defeat in two months.
ANDY Murray is hoping the injury he picked up in Toronto last week will not affect his chances at the US Open.
Murray withdrew from his match with Italy’s Jannik Sinner with an abdominal strain.
“I had a very similar issue last year in the tournament in Stuttgart before Wimbledon which forced me to miss the Queen’s Club tournament and I was able to play Wimbledon,” Murray said.
“It took me about 10 to 12 days before I was feeling good again.
“This is not as bad as that but obviously the danger if you compete and play on it is you make it worse.
“So, I’ll need to see how it develops over the coming days and hopefully feel better in a few days.”
ALCOHOL is playing a large part at the US Open, after Maestro Dobel Tequila’s partnership with the toutnment was announced on Thursday.
You will see “Dobel Tequila” signage around the courts with fans above to taste the liquor at concession stands, restaurants and private hospitality spaces.
Mexican in origin, and distilled from agave plants to a centuries-old recipe, Maestro Dobel is described as a modern expression of tequila.
The brand has also partnered with Taylor Fritz, Aryna Sabalenka and Dana Mathewson, the highest-ranked American wheelchair tennis player.
MADNESS in Montreal as Maria Sakkari and Danielle Collins went head to head in another debate over player recklessness.
World No.8 Sakkari was criticised by Collins at the Canadian Open after hitting a ball into the crowd.
The Greek smashed the ball into the ground and it bounced up into the stands, prompting American Collins to question the move to the umpire.
“Did you just see that? Did you see what happened?, Collins shouted at the chair umpire.
Sakkari replied: “It didn’t even hit anyone. It was on the ground.”
Collins then hit back: “Shut your mouth, shut your mouth.”
Sakkari responded: “What’s your problem? I didn’t hit anyone. I framed the ball.”
But it wasn’t over as Collins retorted: ‘You hit the ball into the stands, Maria. You almost hit someone.”
The umpire managed to calm it before Collins went on to win 6-4, 6-2, with the pair shaking hands at the end.
IT was a solid return to court for Danish wildcard Caroline Wozniacki in Montreal on Tuesday as she easily won her match against Australian qualifier Kimberly Birrell 6-2, 6-2 at the Canadian Open.
“It just feels great to be back out there competing,” Wozniacki, who won this event in 2010, said afterwards.
As she walked on to court Neil Diamond’s famous Sweet Caroline song blared through the speakers.
AS expected, Nick Kyrgios withdrew from the US Open last week, citing ongoing injury issues.
“Heartbroken about the US Open, will be back….my wrist is not ready yet to compete. But may I remind people that I have a protected ranking of 21. When I choose to be back, I will be back where I belong,” Kyrgios said on Instagram.
German Jan-Lennard Struff also withdrew, leaving the way for Argentines Facundo Diaz Acosta and Diego Schwartzman to replace them.
REMEMBER this?
Probably not… Rod Laver jumping over the net after winning the 1969 US Open Tennis Championships final against Tony Roche.
With that win Laver became the first player to achieve an Open Era ‘Grand Slam’.
Two-time champion Casper Ruud had to work for more than two and a half hours to overcome Jaime Faria, the Portuguese who put out Stan Wawrinka in the first round at the Gstaad Swiss Open on Thursday.
Faria was riding the momentum from Tuesday’s defeat of three-time Grand Slam winner Stan Wawrinka, set to retire this season and beaten in an opening match at his home venue.
Faria had his eye on a second upset as he faced Ruud, who lifted the trophy at this elite alpine village in 2021 and 2022.
Ruud ahd to dodge a bullet and mount a comeback to get through the second-round test against the Portuguese.
After dropping the opening set in a tiebreaker, Ruud played patiently as Faria saved five break points in the sixth game of the second set before failing on the sixth.
Ruud then pulled away for a 6-7 (1), 6-4, 6-2 victory, his first since Roland Garros.
“Sometimes it is hard to say when you get a good feeling and you start to win some games in a row,” the winner said.
“You try from the first game to the last, but suddenly something clicked in the middle of the second for me, luckily.”
He added: “I had to really fight hard and if I played one bad game in the second and he serves well, it could be over and it would be time to go home. But luckily I can extend the stay.”
The Scandinavian could join Spaniards Sergi Bruguera and Alex Corretja as three-time winners in the Alps, with Ruud now standing 10-1 here over his career.
Stefanost Tsitsipas said he slept soundly prior to finishing off a darkness-interrupted match on Thursday as he eliminated local Jerome Kym at the Gstaad Swiss Open.
The Greek who once cracked third in the world and the 186th-ranked Swiss returned to the clay after darkness on Wednesday night left them hanging at 5-all in the third set.
Tsitsipas revved up his game from the resumption to emerge into the quarter-finals 6-4, 6-7 (2), 7-6 (5).
The second seed now standing 85th in the world after several poor seasons and a split with his father as his coach, said getting his rest was not a problem after the interruption.
“It was strange going to bed and not being finished. I visualised what I wanted to do, my shot patterns.
“It worked out pretty well.
“I had a good night’s sleep, I was not too stressed and I recovered to get ready for the continuation.”
After saving break points in the first game on Thursday, Tsitsipas triumphed in the final-set tiebreaker
“I’m relieved I was able to save a couple of break points.. I put my game together and made it )victory) happen again.”
The Greek now faces off against Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech for a semi-final spot.
“I’m expecting a lot of big serves, the altitude (1050m) helps. I’ll try to build consistency around my own serve.”
Stefanos Tsitsipas was handed a reprieve due to fading light with his second round match at the Swiss Open Gstaad stopped with the Greek deadlocked with local Jerome Kym 6-4, 6-7 (2), 5-5.
The math had to be halted as night fell and electronic linecalling computers could not read the path of the ball on the clay in contrast to humans who could have carried on for a few additional minutes..
The 27-year-old Tsitsipas was taking the worst of it in the concluding stage after a promising start.against a journeyman opponent ranked 186.
Tsitsipas, his ranking down to 85th after once standing third in the world, lashed out verbally in the last few games, apparently frustrated with his racquet reactions.
The Greek was quick to make his point of an overnight stoppage to the chair umpire while Kym – who reached 5-all with a love service hold – left the court with a defiant fist pump for his public in this alpine resort village.
The cutoff came after just over two hours of play, with the contest to be concluded on Thursday. The winner reaches the Friday quarter-finals.
Tsitsipas produced his last notable result in April with a fourth-round showing at the Madrid Masters,
He is aiming for his second quarter-final of the season after Doha in February and his 2025 Barcelona 15 months ago.
Tsitsipas stands 10-1 vs. players ranked outside the top 100 this season with a sole loss to No. 104 Italian Matteo Arnaldi at the Roland Garros second round.
History repeats for Argentine spoiler in Gstaad
Ruud survives a scare to secure Gstaad quarters
Tsitsipas finishes off Kym after overnight pause
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