This year’s US Open is starting to get more and more interesting as each day progresses. Yesterday eight players moved onto the fourth round and played some exceptional tennis along the way. So, who impressed on day five of the US Open and who would’ve hoped for a better day at the office?
US Open Day Five Women’s Recap
Good Efforts
Jennifer Brady breezed through her third-round match against Caroline Garcia 6-3 6-3. This earned Brady her first round of 16 appearance at a Grand Slam since the US Open 2017. She continued her excellent serving display as she hit ten aces past her French opponent. Her first serve is a huge weapon as she won 81% of her first serve points and wasn’t broken throughout the entirety of the match. Brady did, however, have to save five breakpoints in the match, all in the first set. It was another solid all round performance from Brady, hitting 18 winners compared to just nine unforced errors. Garcia struggled to get past the defence of the American and was forced into hitting 21 unforced errors in an attempt to get past Brady. Brady will play Angelique Kerber for a chance to reach her first-ever Grand Slam quarter final.
Shelby Rogers has quietly made her way to the fourth round at this year’s US Open after another convincing straight-sets win over Madison Brengle, 6-2 6-4. Throughout the match, it was clear that her game plan was to attack Brengle’s slow service and it worked perfectly. Brengle faced a breakpoint in every service game expect one and couldn’t keep her opponents, 26 winners, under control. Alongside the high number of winners, Rogers hit five aces compared to none hit by Rogers. Likewise to Jennifer Brady, Rogers is looking for her first-ever quarter final at the US Open but will face a tough task against Petra Kvitova.
Petra Kvitova won a third consecutive match in straight sets, beating the in-form Jessica Pegula, 6-4 6-3. Despite going into the US Open with a first round loss at the Western & Southern Open, Kvitova is definitely considered as a favourite to win the tournament. She was clinical under pressure in her third-round match as she saved 5/7 of the breakpoints she faced, all being at quite important moments in the match. Kvitova successfully attempted to make the rallies shorter and won 15/18 points at the net. Kvitova will fancy her chances in the fourth round against the world number 93, Shelby Rogers.
Disappointments
There weren’t many disappointing performances on day five of the US Open but after a rain delay from the previous day the 21st seed, Ekaterina Alexandrova is out in the second round. She lost to upcoming teen, Caty McNally 4-6 6-3 7-6(2) in a performance with far too many unforced errors. Likewise to her loss in the second round at the Western & Southern Open, her serve wasn’t working as she hit five double faults in the third set alone. Despite a good start to the season, the COVID-19 break seems to have come at the wrong time for the Russian as she’s gone 3-4 since the restart.
Match of the day
There weren’t many three set matches on day five of the US Open so the clear match of the day was between Naomi Osaka and Marta Kostyuk. The young 18-year-old pushed the two time Grand Slam champion to three sets but ended up losing the close battle, 6-3 6-7(4) 6-2. Osaka survived in this match after many highs and lows, especially in the final two sets.
In the first set, Osaka wasn’t challenged on serve and didn’t face a breakpoint on her way to winning the set 6-3. It wasn’t her best set of tennis but the teenager struggled on serve, hitting five double faults and only got 46% of her first serves in. The second set was a different story as Kostyuk stepped up her game and within her first two service games, she saved an unbelievable seven breakpoints. Later in the set, Osaka was made to pay for her missed chances and was broken in the seventh game. The set continued to be unable to predict and it ended up in a tiebreak, despite Marta Kostyuk having a set point. The 18-year-old kept her focus and won the tiebreak 7-4 to force a third against the 2018 US Open champion. Kostyuk played much better and hit 20 Winners en route to a deciding set.
However, she wasn’t able to convey this good form into the third set and lost it 6-2. The set completely changed after Kostyuk missed five breakpoint chances in the fifth game to take the lead. After this really disappointing game for the teenager, she won just three points in the remaining four games of the set. Osaka also stepped up her serve in the final set winning 100% of the points behind her first serve. She remains the favourite to win the tournament but will have a difficult task against Anett Kontaveit in the fourth round.
Main Photo:
