Category Archives: US Open tennis

Storm Sanders and John Peers break Australia’s 21-year drought with mixed doubles title

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  • Sanders & Peers defeat Flipkens & Roger-Vasselin 4-6 6-4 [10-7]
  • Old friends win Australia’s first US Open mixed doubles title in 21 years

John Peers and Storm Sanders have produced a memorable triumph at the US Open, becoming the first Australian pair to win the mixed doubles title in 21 years in their first grand slam together.

The new combination had to battle from a set down to defeat Belgian Kirsten Flipkens and Frenchman Edouard Roger-Vasselin 4-6 6-4 [10-7] in Saturday’s high-quality final in New York.

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Nick Kyrgios sideshow rolls on with straight-sets defeat of JJ Wolf

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  • Kyrgios defeats Wolf 6-4, 6-2, 6-3 to move into last 16
  • Australian next faces world No 1 Daniil Medvedev

Nick Kyrgios continued his stirring progression in New York in an off-Broadway setting at Flushing Meadows on Friday night. As Serena Williams, the 23-time grand slam champion, was sent into retirement by fellow Australian Ajla Tomljanovic, Kyrgios was blitzing JJ Wolf by 6-4, 6-2, 6-3 in 1hr 55m on nearby Louis Armstrong Stadium.

In a normal US Open, a Friday night outing on Armstrong would scarcely be a sideshow, such is the electric vibe that can be felt on a court that is grand in its own right. Kyrgios is the best supporting actor to start the US Open and the Wimbledon finalist was never seriously challenged by Wolf, a hard-working wildcard entry.

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Linda Nosková and Lucie Hradecká beat Serena and Venus Williams: US Open doubles – as it happened

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First set: *Williams/Williams 3-2 Noskova/Hradecka (* Denotes servers)

Venus serves. The Americans leap out to a 30-0 lead and consolidate it with a punishing serve into the body that’s too good for Noskova. A nice moment for the teenager next though as she exchanges a series of fiery forehands with Venus, just 25 years her senior. She wins the point too and we’re soon at deuce. A double fault brings up break point for the Czechs, which Venus saves with a fine serve that Hradecka floats long. Venus hits another double fault – her serve is a little erratic today – but eventually it’s another Williams hold.

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Nick Kyrgios pitted against good friend Thanasi Kokkinakis in US Open first round

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  • Australian doubles partners drawn against each other
  • Pair have never played each other before on main tour

Nick Kyrgios has been handed a heart-pulling first-round encounter at the US Open, drawn against his great friend Thanasi Kokkinakis in an all-Australian blockbuster. And in a Flushing Meadows men’s field without Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal will open his bid for a 23rd grand slam title against Australian wildcard Rinky Hijikata when the main draw kicks off next week.

Kyrgios and Kokkinakis – the “Special Ks” when they play together as a doubles team – have been pitted against each other in a tough quarter, which also features Russia’s No 1 seed and defending champion Daniil Medvedev.

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Novak Djokovic v Daniil Medvedev: US Open men’s final – live!

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End second set: *Djokovic 4-6 4-6 Medvedev (* denotes next server)

A service winner and an ace put Medvedev up 30-0.

Second set: Djokovic 4-6 4-5 Medvedev* (* denotes next server)

Djokovic finally makes the “drop shot-and-volley” tactic work as it did against Zverev, though he’s a bit fortunate that Medvedev’s lob attempt is weaker than it should’ve been. Medvedev lobs again at 30-30 and doesn’t miss by much. Djokovic again gets to the net at 40-30 and is able to smash his way to a crucial hold. But can he break?

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‘I don’t feel pressure’: Emma Raducanu loving life after US Open triumph

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  • British teenager beat Leylah Fernandez 6-4, 6-3 in final
  • ‘I’m still only 18 years old. I’m just having a free swing’

Emma Raducanu has vowed to keep her free-swinging and carefree approach to tennis after pulling off one of the great sporting feats with victory at the US Open – just the British 18-year-old’s second ever major tournament, in which she won 10 matches after coming through qualifying, all of them in straight sets.

Related: Emma Raducanu: British 18-year-old makes tennis history with US Open final win

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Emma Raducanu makes tennis history with US Open final win

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  • 18-year-old Briton beats Leylah Fernandez 6-4, 6-3
  • Victor came through qualifying and did not lose a set

There are so many basic milestones that Emma Raducanu has not yet recorded in a professional tennis career that only began in full three months ago. She has never been a direct entrant to a grand slam main draw, she is yet to play a tour-level three set match and she has not even won a match at a WTA tour event.

Yet sometimes a special player comes along and renders convention irrelevant. After three weeks and one of the most astonishing breakout runs in living memory, Raducanu marked herself as a grand slam champion for ever. She ended the US Open where she started it: fearlessly dominating from inside the baseline as she defeated Leylah Annie Fernandez 6-4, 6-3 in a match of the highest intensity to win the title without dropping a set.

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‘This girl means serious business’: the making of Emma Raducanu

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Even from a young age, those around the latest British tennis star suspected she had something special

Emma Raducanu’s unprecedented run to the US Open final so soon after committing to the sport is not the first time she has burst through and demanded attention.

In November 2015, only three days after her 13th birthday, which meant she could finally compete in international under-18 tournaments, Raducanu travelled up to Liverpool for the Nike Junior International tournament. Five matches later, she had won the event.

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Emma Raducanu roars past Sakkari to set up US Open final against Fernandez

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When Emma Raducanu arrived at Flushing Meadows this year, she did not have the faintest idea of where to go. So unfamiliar was she with her surroundings, she needed help from her fellow players just to navigate the tournament’s vast grounds.

Her growth over the past three weeks since those timid first steps has been astounding as she outplayed everyone put in front of her. And under the lights of the Arthur Ashe Stadium on Thursday night she went even further, producing yet another brilliant performance to reach her first grand slam final.

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Tearful Naomi Osaka questions future after US Open loss to Leylah Fernandez

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  • Osaka says she will take a break ‘for a while’ after stunning loss
  • Fernandez earns career-best 5-7, 6-7 (2), 6-4 win in third round

Naomi Osaka’s defense of her US Open championship is in tatters and her immediate future on the women’s professional tennis tour in doubt after a shocking third-round defeat to the unseeded Leylah Annie Fernandez, a Canadian teenager ranked 74th in the world.

The third-seeded Osaka, a four-time major champion and the best hard-court player in the world by some distance, lost her composure while serving for the match, came apart during the ensuing tiebreaker and couldn’t right the ship in the third during a 5-7, 6-7 (2), 6-4 loss in 2hr 4min on Friday night.

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Novak Djokovic disqualified from US Open after hitting line judge with ball

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  • Title favourite defaulted during first set after losing serve
  • Player dismissed after discussions with tournament officials

Novak Djokovic was thrown out of the US Open in sensational circumstances on Sunday night when he inadvertently struck a line judge with a dead ball towards the end of the first set of his fourth-round match against the Spaniard Pablo Carreño Busta.

The world No 1, who appeared to hit the ball away casually and with no great force, was distraught as he comforted the woman after she had collapsed in a coughing fit holding her throat. He then engaged in a fruitless 10-minute discussion on court with the tournament referee, Soeren Friemel.

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Novak Djokovic will decide whether to join US Open exodus in ‘next few days’

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  • If world No 1 withdraws he will join absentees Nadal and Federer
  • Non-US players unsure on quarantine rules when heading home

Novak Djokovic will decide “in the next few days” whether or not to join the US Open champion Rafael Nadal in withdrawing from this month’s tournament.

If the world No 1 pulls out, the tournament, due to start on 31 August, will be considerably weakened, given five-times champion Roger Federer is resting after a second knee operation and several other leading players in both draws have withdrawn or expressed reservations about travelling to New York, with women’s world No 30 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova the latest player to join the list of absentees.

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