We don’t have to ask my earlier Indonesia question for the Philippines: the announcer said Alexandra Eala’s victory was the 1st ever for a Filipino (a woman, at least, maybe men too) in a major. Maybe this will get more youngsters in that part of the globe to aspire in tennis instead of much more boring badminton. Clara Tauson kept rolling after Wimbledon, making QF at Washington and SF at Montréal, but then the wheels came off. Lost round-of-32 at Cincinnati, took a week off, and now 1st round loss in NYC. Her recent rise to be a #14 seed cannot be much consolation.
Tremendous match with Dutch qualifier Jesper de Jong, going to a match tiebreaker late into the night. My boy lives on, could have easily gone the opposite way. (Wondering if the 25-year-old de Jong is a late bloomer to keep a future eye on.) It’s a battle of the “special relationship” right away today, US Korda vs UK Norrie. (Flip a coin?)
Today, we brought you Madison Keys and her Many Mistakes. Mexico, please join Indonesia and Phillippines on our tennis stage of Rarely Celebrating Nations!
Remember Löis Boisson? Surprise semifinalist at the French Open? Darling of the Paris press just 3 months ago? She was up a set this afternoon, and in a 2nd set tiebreaker, but couldn’t get over the hump. (Just as well, I’ve cast her as the mysterious Frenchwoman in my remake of Lost, which will take up her time.) Dull Ashe Stadium action today with utter annihilations thanks to Iga and Jannik. (So bad, so quickly, the organizers moved a match scheduled for another court to Ashe.)
Aye especially Kartal losing 6-3 in the first but then smashing it 6-1 in the second you would think the momentum is well and truly with her, only to be smashed 6-1 in the third. And they say football is a funny old game.
If I’m not mistaken, fans with daytime ground passes were able to watch the Fearnley match on Grandstand Court…that ended about 11 PM local time. Coco Gauff with another ugly 3-hour victory due to her inconsistency and nerves. She makes watching this great game unenjoyable. Made Zverev play until 1 AM; would’ve been 2AM had the Chilean won a set point in the 2nd.
Good win for the two Emmas. Very convincing. Draper has had to pull out with an arm injury. Shame for Jack but obviously best to make sure he is ok long term .
Well played Raphael Collignon. Knocks out Casper Ruud in 5! Is Bonzi going to come back from 2 down v Giron?
Yes, after his defeat of Medvedev, he pulls out this comeback, too. BUT…what kind of boring normalcy is this? No photographers rushing the court during a second serve. Marcos Giron calmly puts rackets in his bag without first smashing them to smithereens against his player bench. We expect more in a Bonzi match!!
Seems to be good depth on the men’s side of things with a lot of close matches and surprises - well outside the top 2.
Sounds like the US Open is becoming the second of the Slam events to be played on grass... ‘Hash court’ and high drama: how weed became the US Open’s new distraction
So many great men’s 5-setters so far. I just counted: 18 of them, and we’re not yet done with round 2. I predict at least 1 more tonight with 7 more men’s matches on slate. Leading the way: Court 11, with 4 of them. Tied for second place, with 3 each: - Court 5 - Stadium 17, aka hash court 17! Italy’s Flavio Cobolli holding off USA’s Jensen Brooksby on the hash court less than an hour ago was high-quality madness. Reefer madness, though?!
I hope Putin stayed up late wishing Kamilla Rakhimova would defeat Daria Kasatkina. (Just go to bed now, Evil One.)
Another disappointing result for Tsitsipas. And didn’t take it too well . https://x.com/TheTennisLetter/status/1961279856546910431
