US OPEN, New York (Queens)

Last night, [1] Novak Djokovic (SRB) had to retire from his match against [23] Stan Wawrinka (SUI) due to his persistent painful left shoulder injury. It was not how either played hoped the match would end; however, Djokovic will not be able to defend his US Open title and Wawrinka moved on to the quarterfinals. Wawrinka has won three major titles in his career and never thought he would be able to get back to this level post his knee surgery. Wawrinka had to play some of his best tennis to secure the 6-4, 7-5, 2-1 victory because Djokovic put up a lot of resistance in the first two sets despite his injury.

Did Osaka’s Injury Cause Her Downfall?

Today, the female defending champion, who is also struggling with an injury (left knee), was ousted from the tournament by a very dangerous opponent. [28] Belinda Bencic (SUI) once a top ten player is no stranger to beating the top players and she seems to have figured out how to rattle the top ranked female, [1] Naomi Osaka (JPN).

Bencic got off to an early break lead but Osaka broke back late in the set to get the match back on even terms. It looked as if she had wrestled control of the match away from her opponent when inexplicably at 5-5, Osaka served a poor game and was broken again. Unfortunately this time there was no opportunity to break back and the set was lost.

One break of serve was all Bencic needed in the second set and this time she did not give Osaka any opportunity to break back. 2013 was the last time Osaka was able to defeat Bencic and today’s loss made it the third time this season that Bencic has defeated Osaka. With the 7-5, 6-4 victory, Bencic is into her second major quarterfinals. She played brilliant tennis and Osaka simply was unable to find an answer when it mattered most.

One American Left In Singles

There were three American women left in the singles draw at the start of play today; sadly, at the end of the day, there is only one American woman left in the draw. [8] Serena Williams will play [18] Qiang Wang (CHN) tomorrow for an opportunity to get back to the semifinals of yet another major.

SOURCE OF IMAGES: serveandrally originals