The US Open
US Open Women’s Day 9
Coco Gauff set a personal best at the US Open with her Tuesday victory over Jelena Ostapenko to reach the semi-finals of her home major for the first time.
The 19-year-old defeated the moody Latvian with the loss of just two games in what quickly became evident was one-way traffic.
The Floridian will bid for the final at Flushing Meadows against Karolina Muchova, who beat Sorana Cirstea 6-0, 6-3,
“It was unbelievable, a sweet victory,” the winner said.
The Czech winner will be playing her third semi-final at a major after Australia two years ago and Roland Garros in June, where she finished runner-up to Iga Swiatek.
Muchova moved into a repeat of last month’s Cincinnati final, where she lost to Gauff.
“She is an amazing player and will have the home crowd, I’ll try tp put up a battle against Coco.”
Gauf became the first teenager to reach an Open semi-final since Serena Williams 22 years ago.
The 19-year-old dominated as she broke an exhausted Ostapenko six times.,
The Latvian later complained about playing a late-night match on Sunday and coming back in the heat of the day 36 hours later.
“It’s really hard to recover from those night matches, because after beating world No. 1 (Iga Swiatek) I went to sleep at, like, 5:00 in the morning.
“Yesterday the whole day I felt very low energy. I thought today I was going to wake up and feel better.
“But honestly, I didn’t really feel much better.
“When you go to sleep at 5:00 or 6:00 in the morning you need a few days just to recover – I think it’s a little bit crazy.”
Gauff won the opening set in 20 minutes but had minor niggles with her first serves in the second set on the way to the win in 69 minutes on a third match point.
Gauff, who lost in the Wimbledon first round but has since turned her form on its head, has won 16 of her last 17 matches, including WTA hardcourt titles in Washington and Cincinnati.
She is riding a 10-match win streak.
The winner said she could take nothing for granted against an unpredictable opponent and former Grand Slam champion.
“Playing Jelena, you know that 6-0 set quite literally means nothing. That’s tennis in general because there’s two out of three (sets).
“Honestly, I wouldn’t lie… I’m surprised not by the result but how the match went today. I’m happy with how I was able to stay in it.”
Gauff added: ” I don’t know if the heat really played a factor or not, because the match was short. If it was a longer match, I think it would have favored me even more.
“But I definitely could tell that she was a little bit frustrated with her performance today.
“Right now I feel emotionally fresh, which I think was the problem in the past in Grand Slams – I would be emotionally drained.
“I’m physically fresh and emotionally fresh; that just came from experience.”
Alexander Zverev on Thursday made a long-sought after return to the Shanghai Masters semi-finals, booking his first final four at the event since 2019, defeating Alex de Minaur 6-4, 6-4.
The 2027 year-end No. 1 last got this far as the Covid pandemic began to surface in China in 2019. The event was not played 2020-2022, with the German making modest progress here over the past three editions since resumption.
After winning his 62nd match of the season, the 29-year-old was pleased with his performance.
“I think it was a huge step up. From just being on the court I felt both of us were playing really well.
“I was, a lot of the time, outhitting Alex, which is difficult to do from the baseline because he is so fast and he loves this kind of court speed here.
“I felt good and I’m happy with the step up from the past couple of matches.”
Zverev advanced in 78 minutes, sending over 10 aces as he defeated the Australian for the ninth time in their 13 matches.
Added the reigning Roland Garros and Flushing Meadows Grand Slam champion: “I’ve been handling pressure quite okay this year. In a way you play a bit more relaxed.
“Once Jannik (SInner) unfortunately announced he won’t play for the rest of the year, I’m 4,000 points ahead of everyone else, so I trust myself enough that I’m going to win [enough matches].
Zverev will play for the final to wrap up the Asian swing as he takes on Spain’s Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, who advanced when Arthur Gea quit their quarter-final with injury.
Alexander Zverev will claim world year-end No. 1 honours for the first time on the back of two Grand Slam titles and a final this season.,
The ATP confirmed the changing of the guard as current No. 1 Jannik Sinner ended his season early last week due to a knee injury which has kept him off court since winning Wimbledon three months ago.
Zverev won Roland Garros and US Open trophies and lost to Sinner in the All England Club final.
His reign at the top will begin after the ATP Final in Turin with the ranking period starting on November 23.
Zverev will be 29 years, 217 days old on the date, three days older than Andre Agassi in 1999 (29 years, 214 days).
Main photo:- Alexander Zverev by ISF Ltd
The protagonists from the just-completed China Open will give the WTA Wuhan event a miss, with both Zheng Qinwen and finalist Mirra Andreeva skipping the key Asian date.
Beijing weekend champion Zheng who thrilled a nation with her home title victory, is claiming a right shoulder injury which Andreeva feels “fatigue.”
“I’m very sorry to share that I will be withdrawing from this year’s Wuhan Open,” Zheng said in a statement. “Wuhan is where my tennis dream began, and the Wuhan Open is also where I made my breakthrough at the WTA 1000 level.
“I have always looked forward to competing in front of my hometown fans.
“Since returning from injury, however, I have played a demanding stretch of tennis over the past month and a half, competing at the US Open, the Billie Jean King Cup, and the China Open.
“My body is feeling very fatigued after this intense run of matches. I look forward to returning to the Wuhan Open next year and stepping onto the court in my best possible form!”
Andreeva’s Beijing performance has lifted the teenager into the ranking top 3 for the first time and gives her a shot at the world No. 1 ranking by season’s end next month.
Main photo :-Zheng Quinwen by ISF Ltd
Zverev scratches 7-year itch with return to Shanghai SF
Tenth time lucky as Li knocks out Sabalenka
Zverev celebrates No. 1 status with Shanghai QF
-
Beijing2 weeks agoNo. 1 and 2 seeds ousted in Beijing WTA
-
ATP2 weeks agoBu hoo for China as Djokovic outlasts a local
-
ATP3 weeks agoItalian media fear Sinner may need surgery
-
ATP2 weeks agoDjokovic reaches 7th Beijing final as Medvedev DQ’d
-
ATP2 weeks agoDjokovic untouchable after 30th win in Beijing
-
ATP1 week agoAlcaraz beats Lehecka to triumph in Tokyo
-
ATP1 week agoDjokovic backs into 7th Beijing title as injured de Minaur quits
-
Billy Jean King Cup3 weeks agoCzechs charge to BJK Cup title