American Taylor Townsend got the win of her career today when she knocked out the fourth seed, Simona Halep (ROU). Halep came out on fire; however, just as Townsend did in the qualifying rounds after dropping the first set, she made the necessary adjustments. She evened the match playing her style of tennis (serve and volley) and after fighting off match point in the third set, she forced a tiebreak. Yet, Halep is a major champion for a reason, and she did not go down without a fight. Nevertheless, Townsend was also equally determined, and she did the unexpected and won 2-6, 6-3, 7-6(4).
Gauff Keeps Drawing In The Crowds
American darling, [140] Coco Gauff, looks to be on her way to pulling off another Wimbledon. She took the first set from the veteran, [112] Timea Babos (HUN); however, Babos fought back to force a deciding set. It was a tense set with many squandered opportunities for both players to take control of the set and the match. Babos got tight in the latter stages of the match; serving at 3-4, she went down two break points. Yet, she managed to hang on to her serve to stay even with Gauff because the American was also feeling the negative effects of tension. On her next service game, Babos was not as fortunate, the pressure mounted as she served to stay in the match and this time, Gauff made her pay. With the 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 victory; Gauff became the youngest player to reach the third round of the US Open since Anna Kournikova did so in 1996.
American Victories And Defeats
[14] John Isner defeated [37] Jan-Lennard Struff (GER) 6-3, 7-6(4), 7-6(5).
[20] Sofia Kenin defeated [90] Laura Siegemund (GER) 7-6(4), 6-0.
Denis Kudla defeated the twenty-seventh seed (see below).
[72] Tennys Sandgren defeated [216] Vasek Pospisil (CAN) 6-3, 6-7(4), 6-3,6-4.
[141] Kristie Ahn defeated [127] Anna Kalinskaya (RUS) 6-2, 6-3.
Frances Tiafoe lost a five-set heart breaker to the sixth seed, Alexander Zverev (GER). They traded sets with the German winning the first, third and fifth sets to win the match 6-3, 3-6, 6-2, 2-6, 6-3.
[35] Danielle Collins could not keep the momentum going; despite winning the first set, she lost her match 6-4, 3-6, 4-6 to [19] Caroline Wozniacki (DEN).
[36] Alison Riske lost [77] Jelena Ostapenko (LAT) 4-6, 3-6.
[125] Francesca Di Lorenzo lost 5-7, 0-6 to [26] Julia Goerges (GER).
[394] Jenson Brooksby lost to [18] Nikoloz Basilashvili (GEO) 6-3, 6-7(3), 5-7, 2-6.
More Seeds Fell On Day 4
[8] Petra Kvitova (CZE) lost 4-6, 4-6 to [88] Andrea Petkovic (GER).
[9] Aryna Sabalenka (BLR) lost 3-6, 6-7 (3) to [39] Yulia Putintseva (KAZ).
[25] Lucas Pouille (FRA) lost 4-6, 3-6, 7-6(4), 4-6 to [58] Daniel Evans (GBR).
[27] Dusan Lajovic (SRB) lost to American, Denis Kudla. Kudla won 7-5, 7-5, 0-6, 6-3.
[29] Su-Wei Hsieh (TPE) lost 1-6, 6-4, 6-7(2) to [44] Karolina Muchova (CZE).
[29] Benoit Paire lost 6-4, 7-6(3), 2-6, 5-7, 6-7(4) to [80] Aljaz Bedene (SLO). Paire squandered his 2-0 lead probably in part because of fatigue.
[30] Fernando Verdasco squandered his two-set lead and lost 6-1, 6-2, 5-7, 3-6, 6-7(3) to [170] Hyeon Chung (KOR).
[31] Cristian Garin (CHI) lost to [38] Alex de Minaur (AUS) 3-6, 5-7, 3-6.
SOURCE OF IMAGES: serveandrally originals
