The weight of crowd expectation continues to weigh down the undoubtedly talented 25-year-old American, Coco Vandeweghe.<\/p>\n
She went missing for parts of the match when dispatching fellow country-woman Alison Riske in the first round. Losing a hard fought final to Madison Keys in Stanford has taken the sting out of Vandewghe\u2019s normally potent bite. She has not been the same player since. A follow-up defeat to Keys early in Cincinnati really can\u2019t have helped either.<\/p>\n
There was nothing between the resurgent Tunisian Ons Jabeurand the crowd favourite Vandeweghe<\/strong>. The latter player would often threaten to take control, but Jabeur was always comfortable on her own serve. If anything, it was Jabeur<\/strong> who looked more relaxed in the pressure situation of the first set tie-break<\/strong>.<\/p>\n However, Coco Vandeweghe dug deep to take the tie-break 8-6 and the fist pump that followed, showed how much she wants this. This could be the turning point of her tournament<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Despite using the first pumping momentum gained from sneaking a first set that could have gone either way, at 2-0 in the second set and in control, the American still hit unmissable forehands into the net.<\/p>\n Her opponent showed guile and heart to keep clinging onto the American\u2019s coattails, as one break of serve continued to be the difference between the pair. Until the seventh game, that is. Vandeweghe used her forehand to punish<\/strong> increasingly weaker serves from a tired Jabeur.<\/p>\n Vandeweghe finally saw off her gutsy adversary, taking the match 7-6, 6-4.<\/p>\n A few years ago, the newly wed Polish heroine would not have been able to skip along reality unnoticed<\/a>, but she has this year. This match will be a powerhouse of a struggle and will test Vandeweghe\u2019s mettle. If she can navigate through this one, you will have to start taking her seriously<\/strong> as a US Open<\/a> contender.<\/p>\n Main Photo:Vandewghe makes second set harder than it should have been<\/h1>\n
Radwanska awaits the American in the 3rd round<\/strong><\/h1>\n
\nEmbed from Getty Images<\/a>