Monday, August 25, 2025

US.1 & 2- Comebacks & Upsets & Farewells, Oh My!


With the Daily Backspin stepping into this year's U.S. Open slightly mid-stream, it's time for a bit of catching up. In a nutshell, some stuff has happened.










=DAY 1 & 2 NOTES=
...the Sunday start at Flushing Meadows, a first in the tournament's history (why not, I guess, after a perpetually ongoing North American hard court summer schedule that included the likes of needless Monday and Thursday finals, mid-week starts, and even a Saturday night singles final in Mexico that ended about half a day before the start of play in NYC), Day 1 immdiately gave us "A Tale of Two Kudermetovas."

One achieved the first MD victory at this slam, while the other was the First Seed Out.

For a second straight U.S. Open, the first woman to advance to the 2nd Round did so via her opponent's retirement. Last year it was Maria Sakkari, while this year it was Polina Kudermetova, who won when Nuria Parrizas Diaz retired at 2-2 in the 1st set due to an ankle injury. The 22-year old Hordette was due a break, as she'd previously been 0-4 in slam MD action, and lost in the 1st Round to eventual Wimbledon winner Iga Swiatek earlier this summer.



A short while later, #24 Veronika Kudermetova, Polina's 28-year old sister, was the first seed sent packing when qualifier Janice Tjen continued her remarkable 15-month stretch as a pro (100-13) by notching a 6-4/4-6/6-4 victory in her slam MD debut. A recent college star at Pepperdine, Tjen is the first Indonesian to record a MD win in a major since Angelique Widjaja at the 2003 Wimbledon.



...meanwhile, Sunday also saw a pair of remarkable comebacks authored by Southeast Asian players, as Alex Eala continued to leave her mark on the '25 season, while Moyuka Uchijima posted a win in a major for the fourth time in the last two seasons.

The U.S. Open junior champ in 2022, Eala has been a breakout star this season, reaching the Miami SF (w/ two Top 5 wins -- vs. '25 major winners Keys and Swiatek -- as she's cracked the Top 100, as well as becoming the first player from the Philippines to play a slam MD match, at RG & WI). But she'd yet to win one at that level, until Day 1. And she took the long away around to do it.



After a personal history of being the upset *maker* in the opening rounds of majors, #14 Clara Tauson felt the cold reality of the *other* side of the equation vs. Eala, who became the first Filipino player to record a slam win as she improved to 4-3 this season vs. Top 20 opponents.

After dropping the 1st set, Tauson had rebounded well, taking the 2nd and racing to a 5-1 lead in the 3rd, only to soon fall victim to the unbowed Filipina, as well as her own tendency to let her emotions interfere in a match and turn what seemed like a good day into a series of mopey stretches that eventually lead her down the path to defeat. The Dane twice served for the match, at 5-2 (30/30) and 5-4, and after an argument over a disputed call that put her down 15/40, DF'd to tie the set. Tauson fell behind 6-5 and saved a MP two games later, managing to get things to a deciding MTB.

Eala took an 8-4 lead, but Tauson staved off three MP at 9-8, 10-9 and 11-10 before Eala's fifth MP proved to be the charm as she won the breaker 13-11 to get her first career slam match win in a 6-3/2-6/7-6(13-1) upset.



As galling as Eala's comeback might feel to Tauson, imagine being Olga Danilovic. And by that I mean imagine having *seven* MP chances, including holding triple MP not once, but TWICE, against Japan's Uchijima, yet falling in another MTB that marks just her second one-and-done result at a major in ten slam MD appearances since the start of the 2021 season.

Yeah. Imagine that.



Thing is, just to get herself into such a position, the Serb had staged a comeback of her own from 7-6/3-1 down. Danilovic eventually led 5-3 in the 3rd, with three MP at 40/love on her own serve, then three more at 6-5, love/40 up on that of Uchijima. In the deciding MTB, Danilovic had another comeback from 6-1, taking the lead and holding MP #7 at 9-8, only to lose the last three points of the match, the final one via a double-fault. Ouch.

It's Uchijima's third win this season after being MP down.



...the monster comebacks didn't carry over to Day 2, but the falling seeds did.

Barbora Krejcikova, gradually rounding into shape at an opportune time (she couldn't... I mean, right?), took out Montreal champ and #22-seed Victoria Mboko 6-3/6-2 in the 18-year old Canadian's first action since her career-changing title run. Mboko has been dealing with a wrist injury, and was in no way comparable to the version of herself that buzzed through seven matches on home soil a few weeks ago.



And while "New Madi" carried the day in the opening major of 2025, AO champ Madison Keys (#6 seed) could not find a way to put away world #82 Renata Zarazua in the season's final slam event.

Keys saved five SP vs. the Mexican player in the 1st set, but won it (12-10 TB) and led 3-0 in the 2nd. But Zarazua just wouldn't go away. She won five straight games to lead 5-3 before Keys forced another TB, this time taken 7-3 by Zarazua, who then claimed another close set in the 3rd to win 6-7(10)/7-6(3)/7-5. It's Zarazua's second straight U.S. Open with a 1st Round win, and her fourth in the last five majors. It's her first career Top 10 victory.

Zarazua has appeared in eight consecutive major MD, the longest streak for a Mexican woman since Angelica Gavaldon played in thirteen straight from 1993-1996. At this year's Wimbledon, Zarazua was the first from her nation to post a win at SW19 since 1995.



...Monday was also about *true* goodbyes, as two looming retirements announced months ago finally faced off with reality. As their personal lives (marriage for both, motherhood for one) have marched on off the court, both Petra Kvitova and Caroline Garcia saw their playing journeys end today as they lost in what were not only their final slam matches, but also moments that officially wrapped up their respective careers.

Both women often flew quite high during their time on tour, but the "what if?" moments -- if Petra had just won that *one* match (and reached #1), if Caro had handled pressure a bit better and/or was more consistent, if that home invasion attack had never happened or Kvitova's asthamatic issues hadn't made playing in stifling heat conditions so difficult, etc. -- linger for them maybe as much (or more) than for most of the other top players who have left the sport in recent seasons (i.e. someone like Kerber, who it felt like slowly built to something great and probably got the most from her career as she could have).

In a regrettably sparsely attended match on Grandstand court (in what would have been a nice option for a first-up Sunday match and more of a warm spotlight, rather than as part of the Monday scrum), Kvitova scored just one game in a 6-1/6-0 loss to Diane Parry, while Garcia fell in three sets to Kamilla Rakhimova on Court 6 (even worse!).



It'd been nice if Kvitova's final farewell leg on tour this season had had some better moments (she went 1-8, with a walkover that followed her lone victory), and the U.S. Open was never her best major, as it was the only one where she never reached the SF. But even with all the things that seemed to be left hanging in Kvitova's career, time will quickly smooth over those seeming holes in her tennis resume.

Petra has long been one of the most well-liked players (loved, really) of her generation, and that will only continue as she leaves the heat of the action; while the most indelible images of her career between the lines -- mostly at Wimbledon, where she burst onto the scene back in 2011 by leaving all-time greats in the stands in literal awe (w/ mouths agape) over her grass court prowess as she powered her way to her first of two SW19 wins -- will forever make her greatest moments those that will be cherished by anyone who saw them play out.



As for Garcia, even while winning mutiple slam doubles titles, a Fed Cup crown (w/ a clinching win) and being ranked in the Top 5 in singles, she might end up being longer remembered as the young player whose talent caught the eye of Andy Murray ("The girl Sharapova is playing is going to be number one in the world one day... what a player," the Scot announced on Twitter) back in 2011.

The Pasty didn't have a Hall of Fame career, but one could do worse than having a uniquely personal moment in time like that tucked away into a career bio, I guess.



...in Monday's opening night match, one more chapter in "the greatest tennis story ever told" took place on Ashe, as 45-year old Venus Williams played her 25th 1st Round match at the U.S. Open, her first in two years, and some 28 years after she made her debut (and ultimately reached the final) way back in 1997.



In what still remains in many ways "The Williams Age" of women's tennis -- which replaced "The Williams Era" when one sister retired -- it's fitting that while Venus was set to play her 101st singles match in New York, this weekend Serena was making headlines of her own simply by showing up in Newport as a Hall of Fame presenter. Hmmm, I wonder who might introduce Serena when *she* finally gets her official place in the Hall?

As it turned out, in a pattern that has often come about in any of Venus' matches in recent seasons, she was slow out of the gate (falling behind 3-0), but once she found her groove she proved that in short bursts the old brilliance still lurked not far below the surface. After dropping the 1st set vs. #11 Karolina Muchova, Williams took the 2nd at 6-2. But down the stretch the Czech finally assumed control and won in three, completing the 6-3/2-6/6-1 victory in what is always a thankless job for any player who gets-to/has-to face Venus in an opening round, when getting the expected win (w/ the crowd wishing it didn't happen) almost makes everyone feel bad (or at least awkward), while the act of losing under such circumstances would be an even more crushing blow to (insert name of Williams' opponent).



...lastly, a belated nod for some ITF action from the weekend, when Miriam Bulgaru claimed the $50K challenger in Bistrita, Romania, with a love & 3 win in the final over the younger of the two Jorge sisters, Matilde. Bulgaru, who picked up her biggest career crown last September in a 125 event, adds this win to her previous $35K title earlier this month.

And, another week, another Crusher champion. Or two (or would it be three?).

In Monastir (TUN), 15-year old Jana Kovackova swept the singles and doubles titles in a $15K tournament. A week after her older sister Alena (17) lost in the singles final of another Monastir challenger, but teamed with her sibling to take the doubles, Alena continued to spread the family wealth as the Kovackovas combined to win their second straight doubles crown (and third win their last four pro events).

Jana defeated Bannerette Carolyn Ansari 7-6/6-3 in the final, after Ansari had earlier eliminated Alena in the semifinals. It's Jana's second pro singles win, along with a $35K she picked up in March (when she only 14).








...HEY, A BLAST FROM THE NOT-SO-DISTANT PAST... ON DAY 2:





...EVER THE DRAMA MAGNET IN NYC... ON DAY 2:





...RECENTLY NIKE HAS BEEN A SERIAL SLAM OUTFIT OFFENDER (then Adidas said, "Hold my water bottle")... ON DAY 2:


Remember when the slams were once the showcase for cool new tennis outfits (like Serena's many fashion statements, or Sharapova's "Exquisite in the City" black dress)? Umm, yeah, Osorio's Adidas gear ain't that. It's more a weird cross between a wrestling singlet and lederhosen.




...SPEAKING OF SERENA AND MARIA... ON DAY 2:


Remember when Serena sorta-kinda (inadvertantly) upstaged Maria at her own Hall of Fame enshrinement ceremony? Old patterns are hard to break, I guess.










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**RECENT U.S. OPEN "FIRST VICTORY"**
2017 Kristyna Pliskova, USA (def. Eguchi)
2018 Jil Teichmann, SUI (def. Jakupovic)
2019 Ana Bogdan, ROU (def. Dart)
2020 Marketa Vondrousova, CZE (def. Minnen)
2021 Kristina Kucova, SVK (def. Li)
2022 Anna Kalinskaya, RUS (def. Peterson)
2023 Karolina Muchova, CZE (def. Hunter)
2024 Wang Yafan, CHN (def. Sakkari)
2025 Polina Kudermetova, RUS (def. Parrizas Diaz)

**RECENT U.S. OPEN "FIRST SEED OUT"**
2017 #32 Lauren Davis, USA (Kenin)
2018 #31 Magdalena Rybarikova, SVK (Q.Wang)
2019 #27 Caroline Garcia, FRA (Jabeur)
2020 #32 Rebecca Peterson, SWE (Flipkens)
2021 #31 Yulia Putintseva, KAZ (Kanepi)
2022 #7 Simona Halep, ROU (Snigur)
2023 #8 Maria Sakkari, GRE (Masarova)
2024 #9 Maria Sakkari, GRE (Wang Yafan)
2025 #24 Veronika Kudermetova, RUS (Tjen)
[2025]
AO: #29 Linda Noskova, CZE (lost to Tauson)
RG: #28 Peyton Stearns, USA (lost to Lys)
WI: #20 Alona Ostapenko, LAT (lost to Kartal)
US: #24 Veronika Kudermetova, RUS (lost to Tjen)




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Caroline Garcia retires from professional tennis womenwhoserve.blogspot.com/2025/08/caro... #WTA

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— Diane Elayne Dees (@womenwhoserve.bsky.social) August 25, 2025 at 6:34 PM


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If you bought one or more of my chapbooks, thank you so much! And if you'd write a brief Amazon (or Goodreads) review of that book (or those books), I'd be very grateful! www.amazon.com/stores/Diane... #poetry #poetrycommunity

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— Diane Elayne Dees (@womenwhoserve.bsky.social) August 24, 2025 at 10:37 AM











TOP QUALIFIER: Janice Tjen, INA
TOP EARLY-ROUND (1r-2r): x
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): x
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: Eala/PHI (3rd MD), P.Kudermetova/RUS (5th MD), Tjen/INA (1st MD)
PROTECTED RANKING MD WINS: x
LUCKY LOSER MD WINS: x
UPSET QUEENS: x
REVELATION LADIES: x
NATION OF POOR SOULS: x
CRASH & BURN: Nominee: #6 Keys (AO champ loses 1r to Zarazua)
ZOMBIE QUEEN OF NEW YORK: Nominees: Eala (1r- trailed 5-1 in 3rd vs. #14 Tauson), Uchijima (1r- saved 7 MP, down triple MP twice vs. Danilovic)
IT ("?"): x
Ms.OPPORTUNITY: x
LAST QUALIFIER STANDING: 1r wins: Hon/AUS, Tjen/INA, Valentova/CZE
LAST WILD CARD STANDING: 1r win: McNally/USA
LAST BANNERETTE STANDING: x
COMEBACK: x
VETERAN PLAYER (KIMIKO CUP): x
DOUBLES STAR: x
BIG APPLE BANNERETTE BREAKTHROUGH: x
BROADWAY-BOUND: Nominee: "Exquisitely Back in the City" (Sharapova gets HoF ring on Ashe, 19 years after won title)
LADY OF THE EVENING: x
JUNIOR BREAKOUT: x







All for Day 1 & 2. More tomorrow.

posted by Todd.Spiker @ 11:44 PM 

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