Well, this certainly has been an unpredictable US Open! If you were a betting person, you have probably have lost money with this years tourney. The big names started to fall in the 2nd round, and the trend continued thru round's three and four, which is what this post will cover.
I needed some time to recover from Carlos Alcaraz getting upset in the 2nd round, but apparently Carlos had other ideas...Carlos flew from New York to Italy to enjoy the Italian GP! A Zoom Zoom fan, he is!
Oh, based on the hat, an F1 Alpine investor you are, Carlitos???
Round three found another huge upset, as Australia's Alexi Popyrin, ranked 28th, defeated 2nd ranked Novak Djokivic in four sets. After the match, Novak told the press that the match "was one of the worst tennis I've played in my life!". So there's that.
American Francis Tiafoe, ranked 20th, had an epic five set match (that should have been shown in prime time!) against fellow American Ben Sheldon (28th ranked), that ended with Tiafoe winning, 4-6, 7-5, 6-7, 6-4, 6-3 to move on to the 4th round. One of the best matches of this Open!
At this point, there are four Americans on the men's side still in the tourney, as Taylor Fritz, Tommy Paul, and surprise unranked player, Brandon Nakashima, upset 18th ranked Lorenzo Musetti of Italy, in four sets, and Tiafoe move to the "Sweet Sixteen". No upsets on the women's side on the first night of the third round.
Saturday's final third round play saw all the remaining ranked ladies win their games in straight sets: #1 Swigtek, #2 Sabalenka, #3 Graff, #5 Paulini, and #6 Pegula.
Same goes on the men's side, as #1 Sinner, #5 Medevev, #10 Alex De Minaur, and the last Brit remaining #25 Jack Draper won all their matches.
Brit Jack Draper from 2023 Wimbledon - Imma going to create a file on this one! :)
All this sets up a brutal 4th round/Sweet Sixteen.
Sweet Sixteen: And another one bites the dust, as the rematch of the Wimbledon Semifinal found #3 Coco Gauff facing off against #13th ranked Emma Navarro. Navarro won the first set, 6-3, and Gauff came back to win the 2nd set 6-4, but it was too many unforced errors that did Gauff in, as Navarro won the last set, 6-3, and moves on to the Quarters. Sabalenka took care of business, defeating her opponent in straight sets, while #7th ranked Zheng Qinwen won her match, 7-6, 4-6, 6-2.
Keep an eye on Zheng Qinwen, she is sneaky good!
On the men's side, unranked American Brandon Nakashima's dream run in this US Open ended, but he did not go down quietly losing to #4th ranked Alexander Zverev in five sets!
Elsewhere, #9th ranked Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria took five sets to defeat #6th ranked Andrey Rublev in five sets as well! 12th ranked Taylor Fritz pulled off the other upset of the day, defeating #8th ranked Caper Ruud of Norway in four sets. Last match of the day, had Tiafoe going up against Popylin, and though this was their first match head-to-head, they have practiced together and are good friends. This one was an anxiety-inducing nail-biter, but in the end Tiafoe pulled out the win in four sets, and moves on to the Quarters.
Last day of the fourth round found Swiatek and Jessica Pegula winning in straight sets to move to the Quarters, but Italy's Jasmine Paolini will not, as the #5th ranked player was upset by an unranked opponent. I've deliberately not mentioned the names of most of these unranked opponents up to this point, but will starting with the Quarters. On the men's side, Jack Draper, Danii Medevev won in straight sets, as did Jannik Sinner, defeating American Tommy Paul (14th ranked) in straight sets. Alex De Minaur took four sets to defeat a fellow unranked Australian to also move onto the Quarters!
I'm breaking my earlier rule, and AM going to cover the Quarterfinals!
Emma Navarro had a fascinating match. She one her first game, 6-2, and was down to her opponent, 1-5 in the second match. Somehow, Emma found a 2nd and 3rd gear and came back to to win the set, 7-5, and the match! Emma will now be in her first ever semi-final, facing off against either Sabalenka or Qinwen, who play in just a few hours of me typing this!
In a very hard fought, tense match, Taylor Fritz outlasted Alexander Zverev, 6-7, 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 to move onto the semi's, his first ever!
Sabalenka needed only 1 hour 15 minutes to beat Qinwen Zheng 6-1, 6-2 and has won ten matches in a row! So it's Navarro and Sabalenka in one semi. One of Serena William's friends is going to lose in this nightcap, as Tiafoe and Dimitrov face off. Tiafoe wins the first set, 6-3, lets the second set get away from him as Dimitrov won 7-6, but Tiafoe rebounded and won the 3rd set, 6-3. Dimitrov needed to take a medical time out, as it appears his hamstring has locked up, but has come out for set four. After gamely playing for a a bit, Dimitrov retired, and Tiafoe wins the set, 4-1, and the match. Friday's men's semi-final will be the first time that two Americans play each other since 2005!
Jack Draper continued his US Open tourney of not losing a set this entire tournament,, as he defeated Alex De Minaur in straight sets to reach his first ever semi-final!
#1 Jannik Sinner and #5 Danaii Medevev played what some where calling the "closest to a true Open Final" match, and after four grinding sets, with Danaii and Jannik trading 6-1 sets in the middle, Sinner finishes the match with a 6-4 game, set, match victory!
I go out, celebrate the bestie's naming day, have some laughs then come home to the biggest upset the US Open on the women's side has happened in a while, as American #6th ranked Jessica Pegula defeated the #1 world ranked Iga Swiatek in straight sets, 6-2, 6-4! Talk about a ground shaking upset, on the level of Alcaraz getting bounced in the 2nd round. Pegula will play a fairy-tale US Open challenger, unranked Carolina Muchova of Czechia in one of the two semi's! ( I am massively stunned by this upset!).
Pegula with that forehand reach she does so well!
For the first time in 21 years, there are four Americans in the semi-finals!
And to close, the matches are: Tiafoe/Fritz Sinner/Draper Sabalenka/Navarro
Pegula/Muchova
If you are doing your math, very good chance of Americans being in both finals!
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