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Post by Admin on Sept 2, 2020 4:09:00 GMT
At least this one only took two sets. In the two recent tournaments Serena Williams had played prior to her US Open first-rounder versus 96th-ranked Kristie Ahn, all five of her matches had been three-setters. At two key stages today, that also appeared a possibility versus Ahn, an attentive and upbeat Stanford grad who took a 2-0 lead in each set and in the second served at 2-1, 40-15. But in the end, as she has for an unsurpassed four decades, Williams found what it took when she needed it most, scraping out a 7-5, 6-3 victory to earn a record 102nd US Open singles victory and up her first round mark in New York to 20-0. “I was really pleased with how I just fought for every point,” Williams told ESPN’s Mary Joe Fernandez immediately after the match. “I've been playing a ton of tight matches,” said Williams. “I felt like, all right, I just wanted to be Serena focused from the first point to the last point no matter what happens.” Early on, though, little of that intensity was present. A pair of double-faults handed Ahn the opening game of the match, rapidly followed by several groundstrokes sprayed long. As the world knows, Williams’ US Open saga is epic, including six title runs. Ahn’s US Open resume is significantly more modest, but certainly has its own heartwarming quality. A year ago in New York, at the age of 27, she won her first match in a major, beating ’04 US Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova, and went on to reach the round of 16. Call it an engaging TikTok effort—fitting given that throughout the pandemic, Ahn has made many such videos. Ahn’s endearing and amusing pieces have earned more than half a million likes.
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Post by Admin on Sept 3, 2020 4:19:24 GMT
Brandon Nakashima won his first Grand Slam match on Monday at the US Open, defeating 38-year-old Paolo Lorenzi. The #NextGenATP American is only 19, but he is certainly dreaming big.
“I’ve always wanted to be No. 1 in the world and win a Grand Slam,” Nakashima said. “It’s just a matter of developing my game during this time and just trying to get more experiences like this under my belt and we’ll see how it goes from here.”
The No. 223 player in the FedEx ATP Rankings has been up close and personal with greatness. One of Nakashima’s coaches is 1987 Wimbledon champion Pat Cash. His other coach is Serbian Dusan Vemic, a longtime friend of World No. 1 Novak Djokovic. Nakashima warmed up Djokovic last week throughout his run to the Western & Southern Open title.
“He’s a good guy. He’s definitely funny at times, especially on the court when he’s not hitting. He’s always laughing, having a good time,” Nakashima said. “But when it comes to practising and hitting on the court, he’s definitely locked in, all down to business, so it’s great to see that.”
The teen says that after hitting with Djokovic for a couple of days he got comfortable enough to start asking questions. But his biggest takeaway from the sessions was simply rallying with the Serbian.
“I think it was just a matter of seeing how he hits the ball so effortlessly, how he gets such easy power,” Nakashima said. “[He’s] really smooth with all his strokes.”
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Post by Admin on Sept 4, 2020 6:19:17 GMT
Japanese star Naomi Osaka is off to a great start at this year’s US Open. She beat compatriot Misaki Doi in her first match and subsequently went on to thrash Camila Giorgi in the second round.
In the post-match interview, Osaka had an incredibly funny interaction with her mother, which is something everyone should see.
As you can see, Osaka’s mother called her during her post-match interview. Seeing this, the Japanese star wondered by where her Dad was, and apparently, he was not invited. They went on to converse in Japanese and then, the call was ended by Naomi who nonchalantly said, “Okay, bye Mom, I’ll call you later.”
Her mother’s call was a great surprise for Naomi, especially since it was on a good note. She demolished her opponent 6-1, 6-2, and it was the first time in a while that we saw Osaka at her very best.
As any tennis fan knows, the period from 2018 to 2019 was absolutely amazing for the Japanese star. She won the 2018 US Open by beating Serena Williams, 2019 Australian Open, and in addition to that, she became the World No. 1. Many thought that she would be unstoppable, but unfortunately, that wasn’t the case.
Following the 2019 Australian Open, Naomi split with coach Sascha Bajin, which did not work well for her. She lost in the early rounds of events and she even failed to defend the Grand Slams she won.
With the hope of returning to her best, Osaka hired coach Wim Fissette. However, we didn’t get to see the effect of his coaching due to the pandemic. Now, it looks like he has had a positive effect on the Japanese powerhouse and she can very well win her 3rd Grand Slam in New York.
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Post by Admin on Sept 5, 2020 5:45:41 GMT
Naomi Osaka spiked her racket after one errant forehand late in the second set at the U.S. Open, then flung it the length of the baseline after a missed backhand return ceded that tiebreaker. Sometimes, that's the sort of reaction it takes to right things for Osaka. And, perhaps surprisingly, she needed whatever push she could get in Friday's third-round match. Facing an opponent competing in just her second major tournament, two-time Grand Slam champion Osaka eventually figured out a way to turn a tight one into a runaway and beat 18-year-old Marta Kostyuk 6-3, 6-7 (4), 6-2 by claiming the final five games at Flushing Meadows. "While I was playing, honestly, I was cursing myself out," Osaka said during an on-court interview afterward, "so you wouldn't want to know what I was saying." After taking things out on her racket, Osaka sat with a white towel draped over head during a changeover. "It's what I do in times of extreme anger and frustration," she said. Still, she improved to 7-0 since tennis resumed after a hiatus of more than five months because of the coronavirus pandemic.
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Post by Admin on Sept 6, 2020 4:34:23 GMT
Serena Williams is one step closer in her quest for her seventh U.S. Open title.
The 23-time Grand Slam champion, 38, won in a dominant fashion (2-6, 6-2, 6-2) against the fellow American tennis player, 27, scoring consecutive wins in the second and third sets.
Though there were no fans in attendance, Williams had special cheerleaders in the stands. Husband Alexis Ohanian and their daughter Olympia was seen clapping and wearing face masks during the match.
"I hope she saw her mama fighting," Williams said about her 3-year-old daughter after her victory.
"I don't think she was playing attention between you and me. I think she was playing with some princesses upstairs," the mom of one joked.
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