Day three at the US Open offered up plenty of juicy upsets and quirky moments. While much of the men’s side of the draw went according to plan, the lower seeds the on the women’s side decided it was time to spice proceedings up a bit.
- From an American tennis fan point of view it was a rough day. Five Americans took to the court yesterday and only one, Venus Williams, was able to advance. Venus did look sharp again in her 2nd round matchup, and it’s not unrealistic to say she has a legitimate shot to take home her 3rd US Open title. That’s something that hasn’t been said in a while.
- Sloane Stephens and Aga Radwanska were two high profile casualties of the day falling to Johanna Larsson and Peng Shuai respectively. Sloane looked sluggish on the court and displayed sloppy footwork and erratic groundstrokes throughout. I don’t care how talented you are, you’re not going to win a match with 63 unforced errors.
- On the men’s side of the draw, the top three seeds of the day, Wawrinka (3) Berdych (6) and Gulbis (11) all advanced, only dropping 1 set between them. The highlight of the night for me came when Wawrinka told a rowdy fan to ‘shut up’. Wawrinka has never been afraid to express himself and the US Open crowd cheered as he berated the fan. Scored some points in my book for what it’s worth.
- Some other high profile women such as Maria Sharapova and Andrea Petkovic labored to victory, both having to come back from a set down. The Petkovic vs. Puig match may have been the match of the day with Petkovic coming back from a double break in the 3rd set.
- Even though Caroline Wozniacki had a comfortable 2nd round match she had some other problems in the cosmetic department out on the court. She may have won the match but I’m revoking some style points. Clean it up Caroline.
Day 4 Preview
- Sam Querrey and John Isner both take to the court early in the day with hopes of advancing to the 3rd round. Isner should have no problem with the 77th ranked Jan-Lennard Struff and Querrey’s outlook is positive as well considering he has a 3-0 record against the 28th ranked Guillermo Garcia-Lopez.
- I fully expect Djokovic (1), Raonic (5), and Tsonga (9) to advance with ease but my eye will be on Andy Murray today. He struggled in his first round matchup and should make easy work of his opponent who sits outside the top 200 but I’ll be interested to see how he’s moving out there. Look for Murray to be more aggressive in his 2nd round matchup.
- You don’t want to miss Nick Kyrgios vs Andrea Seppi. Not only should it be an entertaining matchup but Kyrgios is primed to be a US Open fan favorite if he reels off a few more wins. Shots such as this one against Nadal at Wimbledon, of all places, have firmly put him in the limelight.
- Serena takes on her second straight American tonight in the form of Vania King. Seven other American women outside of this matchup take to the court tonight, making this an exciting day for casual and rabid fans alike.
- 15-year-old CiCi is one of those Americans who will be playing sometime in the afternoon hoping to build on her 1st round upset. She’ll be taking on the talented 20-year-old from Kazakhstan Zarina Diyas but I expect her to keep her Cinderella story going.
- Bonus gif: Alec Baldwin’s cat like reflexes. Boss move.
