Tuesday, September 02, 2025

US.10- Jess and the City


Jessie Pegula continues to hear "New York, New York" in her head deep into the night (as well as this U.S. Open draw).










=DAY 10 NOTES=
...well, and Muchova leaves *one*. The Czech women have had a good (and historic) run at this U.S. Open. But not today.

Meanwhile, this tournament continues to be Jessie Pegula's slam oasis. A year ago, she ended her career 0-for-6 shutout in major QF matches with a win in New York, and ultimately advanced to her first slam singles final. Since then, while she's had a fine season that has included five finals (after a 5-0 mark in SF) and three titles on three different surface, her results in majors (3r-4r-1r) had left her wanting all season long, especially her early exit at Wimbledon after winning a pre-event grass title in Bad Homburg (taking a final vs. Iga Swiatek, who'd then go on to win at SW19). Not only that, but Pegula arrived in New York having had a quiet summer since leaving England, going 2-3 on summer hard courts.

But Pegula has plugged back in in the Big Apple, coming into her QF match-up with Barbora Krejcikova having not lost a set through the first four rounds.

Pegula quickly put her best foot forward against the Czech, whose serve did her no favors on the day, grabbing 4-1 leads in both the 1st and 2nd sets, and staving off attempts by Krejcikova to get back into things as she successfully did vs. Pegula's fellow Bannerettes Emma Navarro and Taylor Townsend in the last two rounds.

Krejcikova had gotten the 1st back on serve at 4-3, but an ill-timed DF in the following game put her down BP and then a game-ending error handed Pegula back her advantage. She served out the set.

In the 2nd, Pegula's early break lead was lightly tested in game 4, but she saved a BP and held for 3-1. After briefly holding a double-break lead, Pegula gave back one of the breaks in game 6, but later broke Krejickova to end the match, winning 6-3/6-3.



While Krejcikova exits at this stage, she made her mark on this major, posting a win over a Top 10 seed (from 0-3, love/30 down in the 3rd vs. Navarro) and saving eight MP a round later (vs. Townsend) to reach the QF. Now, if she could only get to the 2026 slams without missing time and having to put together another "comeback" in order to get herself back into contention for another big title run.



Pegula will next get a rested top seed and defending champ Aryna Sabalenka, who received a QF walkover from Marketa Vondrousova -- sigh -- to reach her fifth straight major SF (and fifth consecutive at the U.S. Open, as well). Sabalenka leads their head-to-head series 7-2, with three straight victories since Pegula's last win in WTAF round robin play in 2023. Of their nine meetings, only one (the very first in the Cincy-at-NYC event in 2020, when Pegula was a but a qualifier and Sabalenka just the #5 seed) hasn't been decided in straight sets.

For Vondrousova, who injured her knee in practice (see below, as one wonders if she already had done something to the knee earlier, as she hardly seems to tweak/twist her knee at all in the moment caught on video that brought an end to her U.S. Open), it's the latest bad break in a career that has already seen quite a few of them in between what have been some pretty remarkable results for the 26-year old.



...in wheelchair doubles, Diede de Groot/Zhu Zhenzhen knocked off #1 seeds Manami Tanaka/Aniek Van Koot to reach the SF, and will next face defending champs (from 2023) Yui Kamiji/Kgothatso Montjane.








*WOMEN'S SINGLES QF*
#1 Aryna Sabalenka/BLR walkover Marketa Vondrousova/CZE
#4 Jessie Pegula/USA def. Barbora Krejcikova/CZE
#11 Karolina Muchova/CZE vs. #23 Naomi Osaka/JPN
#8 Amanda Anisimova/USA vs. vs. #2 Iga Swiatek/POL

*WOMEN'S DOUBLES SF*
#1 Siniakova/Townsend (CZE/USA) vs. #4 V.Kudermetova/Mertens (RUS/BEL)
#3 Dabrowski/Routliffe (CAN/NZL) vs. #2 Errani/Paolini (ITA/ITA)

*MIXED DOUBLES FINAL*
(WC) Errani/Vavassori (ITA/ITA) def. #3 Swiatek/Ruud (POL/NOR) 6-3/5-7 [10-6]

*GIRLS SINGLES ROUND OF 16*
#1 Julieta Pareja/USA vs. (Q) Lea Nilsson/SWE
Kanon Sawashiro/JPN vs. #8 Charo Esquiva Banuls/ESP
#4 Mia Pohankova/SVK vs. Shao Yushan/CHN
#9 Mika Stojsavljevic/GBR vs. #6 Jana Kovackova/CZE
Ksenia Efremova/FRA vs. Sun Xinran/CHN
#14 Jeline Vandromme/BEL vs. #3 Kristina Penickova/USA
#5 Julia Stusek/GER vs. (WC) Welles Newman/USA
Julia Pastikova/CZE vs. #2 Hannah Klugman/GBR

*WHEELCHAIR DOUBLES SF*
de Groot/Zhu (NED/CHN) vs. Kamiji/Montjane (JPN/RSA)
Griffioen/Shuker (NED/GBR) vs. #2 Li/Wang (CHN/CHN)








...POTENTIAL HEARTWARMING MOMENT FOR THE WEEKEND LOADING... ON DAY 10:





...DIDN'T CATCH THIS THE OTHER DAY, BUT IT'S A REALLY INTERESTING THING (Belarus, we used to hardly know ye)... ON DAY 10:




BTW, Azarenka lost in both the AO/US QF in that 2014 season, while Sabalenka continued on to the SF on all six occasions. She reached the final on the first five, and needs one more win to do it again.

Also, Sabalenka reached the U.S. QF/SF in 2022, as well, so she's reached those stages at seven straight hard court majors.

Of some note, the original QF stat also did *not* involve Serena... which somehow made it even more impressive. But since virtually every stat must include Serena, here's a new one after today...




...NO MORE VENUS & LEYLAH INCOMING (but after being shut out of the MX exhibition, Siniakova still has a shot at a title at this tournament)... ON DAY 10:





...A FASHION CHALLENGE FOR A CLOTHING SPONSOR FOR 2026... ON DAY 10:


Create something for a player to wear in a major that is inspired by the Roseate Spoonbill...

























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*U.S. OPEN "KIMIKO CUP" VETERAN WINNERS*
2015 Flavia Pennetta, ITA
2016 Angelique Kerber, GER
2017 Venus Williams, USA
2018 Serena Williams, USA
2019 Serena Williams, USA
2020 Serena Williams, USA and Victoria Azarenka, BLR
2021 Samantha Stosur/Zhang Shuai, AUS/CHN
2022 Alize Cornet, FRA
2023 Sorana Cirstea, ROU
2024 Sara Errani, ITA
2025 Barbora Krejcikova, CZE

*RECENT U.S. OPEN "COMEBACK" WINNERS*
2017 Petra Kvitova, CZE
2018 Bethanie Mattek-Sands, USA
2019 Taylor Townsend, USA
2020 Tsvetana Pironkova, BUL
2021 U.S. Open fans
2022 Caroline Garcia, FRA
2023 Caroline Wozniacki, DEN
2024 Karolina Muchova, CZE
2025 Naomi Osaka, JPN

**BACKSPIN 2025 WTA PERFORMANCE-OF-THE-MONTH WINNERS**
JAN: Keys wins first major at AO (def. #1/#2, saves MP in SF)
FEB: M.Andreeva (17) is youngest 1000 singles champion in Dubai
MAR: M.Andreeva is latest w/ star-turn at Indian Wells
BJK Q: Bouzas Maneiro goes 2-0 for ESP in Cup debut
APR: Ostapenko def. #1/#2, wins Stuttgart
MAY: Paolini is first Italian in 40 years to win Rome
JUN (cc): #361 Boisson reaches RG semis as a wild card in slam MD debut
JUN (gr): Maria (37, 4th-oldest WTA champ ever) wins in tour's Queen's Club return
JUL (2Q): Swiatek wins first Wimbledon title
JUL (3Q): Fernandez wins Washington
AUG: Mboko stuns field with maiden title in Montreal





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Pritzker: When did we become a country where it's okay for the president to insist on national television that a state should call him to beg for anything, especially something we don't want? Have we truly lost all sense of sanity in this nation that we treat this as normal?

[image or embed]

— Acyn (@acyn.bsky.social) September 2, 2025 at 4:18 PM


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TOP QUALIFIER: Janice Tjen, INA
TOP EARLY-ROUND (1r-2r): Emma Raducanu/GBR
TOP MIDDLE-ROUND (3r-QF): x
TOP LATE-ROUND (SF-F): x
TOP QUALIFYING MATCH: Q2: Dominika Salkova/CZE def. Kristina Dmitruk/BLR 6-3/5-7/7-6(10-8) - saved 4 MP on serve at 6-5 in the 3rd, then trailed 4-1 in MTB
TOP EARLY-RD. MATCH (1r-2r): 1st Rd. - Alex Eala/PHI def. #14 Clara Tauson/DEN 6-3/2-6/7-6(13-11) - comeback from 5-1 down in 3rd; first PHI w/ GS MD win
TOP MIDDLE-RD. MATCH (3r-QF): x
TOP LATE-RD. MATCH (SF-F): x
=============================
FIRST VICTORY: Polina Kudermetova/RUS (def. Parrizas Diaz/ESP, ret. after 2-2 in 1st set)
FIRST SEED OUT: #24 Veronika Kudermetova/RUS (1r, lost to qualifier Tjen/INA)
FIRST CAREER SLAM MD WINS: Alex Eala/PHI (3rd GS MD), Polina Kudermetova/RUS (5th MD) and Janice Tjen/INA (1st MD)
PROTECTED RANKING MD WINS: Sorana Cirstea/ROU (2nd Rd.)
LUCKY LOSER MD WINS: no LL in MD
UPSET QUEENS: Asia (seeded upsets by Tjen/INA, Eala/PHI; Uchijima saved 7 MP vs. Danilovic)
REVELATION LADIES: Russia (10-3 1r; first slam MD W by P.Kudermetova, and first US wins by Blinkova and Zakharova)
NATION OF POOR SOULS: China (1-5 1st Rd.; 0-5 start; Zheng Qinwen DNP)
CRASH & BURN: #6 Madison Keys/USA (AO champ loses 1r to Zarazua; second US 1r exit in 12 years)
ZOMBIE QUEEN OF NEW YORK: Moyuka Uchijima/JPN (1r- saved 7 MP, down triple MP twice vs. Danilovic)
IT ("?"): x
Ms.OPPORTUNITY: Nominee: Pegula
LAST QUALIFIER STANDING: Priscilla Hon/AUS (3rd Rd.)
LAST WILD CARD STANDING: Caty McNally/USA (2nd Rd.)
LAST BANNERETTE STANDING: in QF: Anisimova, Pegula(W)
COMEBACK: Naomi Osaka/JPN
VETERAN PLAYER (KIMIKO CUP): Barbora Krejcikova/CZE
DOUBLES STAR: x
BIG APPLE BANNERETTE BREAKTHROUGH: Taylor Townsend/USA
BROADWAY-BOUND: Nominees: "Exquisitely Back in the City" (Sharapova gets HoF ring on Ashe, 19 years after won title); "Naomi Osaka presents 'Labubus Take/Invade New York'"
LADY OF THE EVENING: Nominee: Sharapova (HoF ring)
JUNIOR BREAKOUT: x







All for Day 10. More tomorrow.

posted by Todd.Spiker @ 9:36 PM 

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