There are three American women left in the singles draw at the end of day seven. If you had picked these three women to make it to the second week of the US Open, congratulations.
Many would have picked Serena Williams despite her recent injury woes because frankly, Williams is extremely motivated to win her twenty-fourth major title. Not many may have heard of [141] Kristie Ahn, much less given her name a second glance when the draw was finalized. [116] Taylor Townsend‘s name may be more recognized; however, few would have expected her to get this far. Once again, we are reminded that matches are not played on paper and at a major anything is possible. I wish all three remaining women much continued success. I also hope that Williams did not do any serious damage to her ankle after she twisted it today in her match against [22] Petra Martic (CRO).
Williams will have to tighten up her serve, she made three double faults today and only served four aces; however, as we have seen numerous times before, she can elevate her game depending on the opposition. Yet, we have seen recently depending on the stage of the tournament, that Williams can falter under the pressure of expectation. We are certainly hoping that this will be the tournament where everything comes together for her.
Surprise Losses Amongst The Seeds
[1] Novak Djokovic (SRB) lost to [23] Stan Wawrinka (SUI) 4-6, 5-7, 1-2 (RETIRED). Djokovic retired after going down an early break in the third set because of left shoulder issues. The Serbian was up a break in the second set but could not hold on to his lead. The defending champion is out at the hands of Wawrinka, who played some brilliant tennis against the ailing opponent. [3] Roger Federer (SUI) is probably breathing a sigh of relief and silently thanking Wawrinka.
The second and third seeds, both in Williams half of the draw, lost today. [2] Ashleigh Barty (AUS) lost in straight sets (2-6, 4-6) to [18] Qiang Wang (CHN). This was surprising as Barty had never dropped a set to Wang in their two previous meetings. The other result was even more surprising. [3] Karolina Pliskova had only lost once in seven meetings with [16] Johanna Konta (GBR); yet, perhaps is was not as surprising as five of those matches had gone to three sets. Add a little extra pressure, Pliskova with a chance of getting to another major final and potentially winning her first major, and it was enough to tilt the odds in Konta’s favor.
SOURCE OF IMAGES: serveandrally
