Tiafoe Gets Rematch, Krejcikova Falls at U.S. Open
The U.S. Open tennis tournament is heating up, and there have been some major developments in both the men’s and women’s draws.
In the women’s draw, Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova was knocked out in the second round by Elena-Gabriela Ruse. Krejcikova had won her second Grand Slam singles title this summer, but she hasn’t played any matches since the Paris Olympics. She acknowledged last week that she didn’t know where her level of play was. Turns out, it wasn’t good enough.
No woman has won Wimbledon and the U.S. Open in the same year since Serena Williams in 2012.
On the men’s side, Frances Tiafoe got the rematch he wanted, a second shot at Ben Shelton. Tiafoe, the No. 20 seed, won the first two sets before his opponent, Alexander Shevchenko, retired after the first game of the third set. Shelton, the No. 13 seed, later beat Roberto Bautista Agut to advance to the third round. He ousted Tiafoe last year in the quarterfinals, stopping Tiafoe from what would have been a second straight trip to the U.S. Open semifinals.
Tiafoe had short work on the steamiest day of the tournament thus far, with temperatures in New York surpassing 90 degrees Fahrenheit (32 degrees Celsius). Three men’s matches ended when an opponent stopped playing, the last one sending defending champion Novak Djokovic to the third round when Laslo Djere retired early in the third set with what appeared to be pain near his hip after they played for more than two hours across the first two sets.
Defending champion Coco Gauff marched into the third round on the women’s side with a 6-4, 6-0 victory over Tatjana Maria. The No. 3 seed will next face No. 27 seed Elina Svitolina.
Ruse, a 26-year-old from Romania, advanced to the third round of a Grand Slam for the first time and will play No. 26 seed Paula Badosa, who eliminated American Taylor Townsend.
Jiri Lehecka ignored the heat to engineer the biggest comeback of his career, rallying to beat Mitchell Krueger in a match that finished a minute shy of four hours. Lehecka, the No. 32 seed, not only came from two sets down for the first time in his career, but he was even down 3-0 in the third set against the American qualifier.
He will face No. 6 seed Andrey Rublev, who also came from two sets down to outlast Arthur Rinderknech.
Past U.S. Open finalists Aryna Sabalenka and Alexander Zverev both won their matches in straight sets, while Olympic gold medalist Zheng Qinwen, the No. 7 seed, rallied passed Erika Andreeva in three sets. But No. 12 Daria Kasatkina was upset by American Peyton Stearns, who will next face No. 24 seed and Olympic silver medalist Donna Vekic.
Another women’s third-round match will see No. 14 seed Madison Keys against No. 33 Elise Mertens. Keys, the 2017 runner-up in Flushing Meadows, rolled past Maya Joint, while Mertens knocked out Ajla Tomljanovic.
