Tuesday, August 26, 2025

US.3- Coco Comes Through












=DAY 3 NOTES=
...three days in, but still on a Tuesday, the Open wrapped up it's 1st Round action today.

Early in the day, Wimbledon and Cincinnati champion Iga Swiatek finally made her '25 debut at the tournament she won three years ago, handling her business in tidy fashion in a Backward-Cap-vs.-Forward-Cap face-off against Colombian Emiliano Arango. Swiatek won 6-1/6-2, recording her 24th consecutive 1st Round win in a major and 62nd in a row in a knock-out event (pay no mind to the stupid reports of her breaking "Monica Seles' record" of 65 straight opening wins in events, since three of those events in *that* "streak" came in WTAF/United Cup events in which losing the first match wouldn't mean she'd have been out of the tournament... so I ask again, why count them as part of any sort of streak?).



Swiatek's summer has suddenly become all around runs, as she's now won six straight matches, and eight in a row in slam play. She's gone 15-1 in her last 16, and 18-2 since the end of Roland Garros. She's also 18-2 in majors in '25, just three fewer wins than her career-best 21 in 2022, a slam campaign which ended with her claiming her second major win of the season with a U.S. Open title. Hmmm.

...and it wasn't just Swiatek, as most of the day went by without a seed falling, but then in the early evening...



#26 Sofia Kenin's loss came as fellow Bannerette Ashlyn Krueger, 21, fired 12 aces in her return to Flushing Meadows after reaching the 3rd Round last year (her best result in a major). In 2024 in New York, Krueger got wins over Zhang Shuai and #21 Mirra Andreeva.

Soon after, #20 Diana Shnaider found out that playing a Saturday night final in Mexico is probably not the best preparation for a 1st Round U.S. Open match a short time later, especially one against the likes of the game of Laura Siegemund. It also didn't help that Shnaider has *never* beaten the German, not in two previous singles matches, nor even in four meetings in doubles.



After having just won a 500 title in Monterrey soon after adding Sasha Bajin as her new coach, an oasis singles result in what has been a desert of a season for the Russian, Shnaider had a 4-2 lead vs. Siegemund in the 1st set, only to lose a TB. She forced a 3rd, but the German pulled away for the win.

37-year old Siegemund was the third-oldest player in the women's draw, and is the oldest to reach the 2nd Round. She's coming off a surprise QF run at Wimbledon (her second ever in a slam, w/ '20 RG) during which she posted upsets over Zheng Qinwen and Madison Keys. Also with a 3rd Round at this year's AO (tying her best Melbourne result), Siegemund increases (to 7) her already career-best season total for match wins in majors (her previous high was 5 in 2020). Her best U.S. Open run has been a 3rd Round in 2016.

...in the night match on Ashe, Ajla Tomljanovic returned to the scene of the crime from three years ago, when she ended the career of Serena Williams in a 3rd Round match under the lights. This time the Aussie faced off with another former U.S. Open winner, #3 Coco Gauff.

It was Gauff's first match with new serve coach Gavin MacMillan (the biomechanics expert who helped lead Aryna Sabalenka's serve out of the darkness a while back), installed after she fired her coaching staff following her 1st Round exit at Wimbledon and spate of DF-heavy matches this summer hard season.

What resulted was a back-and-forth, imperfect match in which Gauff (exhausted, she admitted afterward, after working the past week to get her serve in shape for the Open) rallied early (from 3-1 down in the 1st) to take the match lead, but then struggled to put the victory away after taking a 6-3/4-2 lead. Tomljanovic won a 2nd set TB to force a decider, where Gauff took an early lead at 3-1 but couldn't go up double-break despite having multiple opportunities, including holding a BP for 4-1 and 5-2, then being within two points of the win on the Aussie's serve at 5-3.

Tomljanovic held for 5-4, giving Gauff the chance to serve out the win. She DF'd on the first two points, fell beind 15/40, and soon it was 5-5. But the reigning Roland Garros champ (not looking to go the way of this year's AO champ, Madison Keys, with a 1st Round exit in NYC) broke back to give herself a second chance. This time, Gauff made it over the finish line, ending things with her *best* shot: a backhand down the line to win 6-4/6-7(2)/7-5.

Things won't get any easier, as she'll next face Donna Vekic. Gauff got a win over the Croatian in this year's United Cup, but in their other meeting last summer Vekic upset Gauff at the Olympics in the 3rd Round (after Coco has earlier defeated Tomljanovic) en route to the Silver medal.



...with the 1st Round complete, a few early honorees...

REVELATION LADIES: the Bannerettes have the most players in the 2nd Round (12), but were collectively under .500, so the Hordettes slip into the spot with an impressive 10-3 overall mark.

UPSET QUEENS: no single country applies, so it'll go to a region, with Asian players authoring two of the highlight wins of the opening round. Indonesian qualifier Janice Tjen notched her maiden slam by making #24 Veronika Kudermetova the first seed to exit, while Filipina Alex Eala staged a massive comeback/sorta-upset (from 5-1 in the 3rd) vs. #13 Clara Tauson. The other huge comeback -- from 7 MP down, and triple MP down twice -- was by another Asian, as Japan's Moyuka Uchijima knocked off Olga Danilovic.

NATION OF POOR SOULS: with Zheng Qinwen sitting out this slam, it looked as if China might go winless in the 1st Round. The nation stood at 0-5 before Wang Xinyu finally registered a win, but it wasn't enough to throw off the collar of this (dis)honor.







...TO BE CONTINUED (or maybe not, who knows?)... ON DAY 3:





...MORE VENUS INCOMING... ON DAY 3:





...THE THINGS CLOTHING SPONSORS DO TO ATHLETES (it's almost as if they also come up with WTA "re-brands")... ON DAY 3:





...MEANWHILE, NICE USE OF COLOR HERE BY MELBOURNE-BASED SPORTS APPAREL COMPANY ELITE ELEVEN (it's especially effective w/ Joint's shock of red hair)... ON DAY 3:





...SAY WHAT ONE WILL ABOUT OSAKA, BUT... ON DAY 3:


At least she (or someone associated with her) understands that evening matches (hey, or even day ones) in New York are made for playing dress-up...
























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*US 1st ROUND*
[highlights]
TOTAL MD NATIONS: 38
IN 2nd RD. (30 nations; AO-29,RG-26,WI-31): 12-USA, 10-RUS, 5-CZE, 3-AUS
"BEST" 1st RD (w/ L): 2-0 (KAZ), 10-3 (RUS), 5-3 (CZE)
UNDEFEATED 1st RD.: 2-0 (KAZ); 1-0 (8 nations)
WORST 1st RD. (2+): 0-2 (COL), 1-5 (CHN), 1-3 (GBR/UKR)
SEEDS OUT: 8 (2-RUS,UKR,USA; 1-CAN/DEN)
WINS OVER SEEDS: 1-CZE,GER,HUN,INA,MEX,PHI,RUS,USA
W/L IN SLAM MD DEBUTS: 1-7 (only Tjen w/ W)
W/L TEENAGERS: 4-5 (Andreeva,Joint,Jovic,Valentova)
W/L AGE 35+: 3-5 (Azarenka,Cirstea,Siegemund)
[BY NATION - alphabetical]
0-1 - AND
0-1 - ARG
0-1 - ARM
3-4 - AUS
1-1 - BEL
2-1 - BLR
1-0 - BRA
1-2 - CAN
1-5 - CHN
0-2 - COL
1-1 - CRO
5-3 - CZE
0-1 - DEN
0-1 - EGY
1-2 - ESP
2-3 - FRA
1-3 - GBR
2-1 - GER
1-0 - GRE
1-1 - HUN
1-0 - INA
1-2 - ITA
2-1 - JPN
2-0 - KAZ
1-2 - LAT
1-0 - MEX
1-0 - NED
1-0 - NZL
1-0 - PHI
2-1 - POL
2-1 - ROU
10-3 - RUS
0-1 - SRB
2-2 - SUI
0-1 - SVK
1-0 - TUR
1-3 - UKR
12-13 - USA

*2025 FIRST CAREER SLAM MD WINS (w/ career slam MD)
-AUSTRALIAN OPEN (4)-
Destanee Aiava, AUS (6th)
Talia Gibson, AUS (2nd)
Suzan Lamens, NED (1st)
Rebecca Sramkova, SVK (5th)
-ROLAND GARROS (7)-
Emiliana Arango, COL (1st)
Sara Bejlek, CZE (6th)
Lois Boisson, FRA (1st)
Joanna Garland, TPE (1st)
Victoria Mboko, CAN (1st)
Leyre Romero Gormaz, ESP (1st)
Tereza Valentova, CZE (1st)
-WIMBLEDON (3)-
Veronika Erjavec, SLO (2nd)
Solana Sierra, ARG (3rd)
Zeynep Sonmez, TUR (4th)
-U.S. OPEN (3)-
Alex Eala, PHI (3rd)
Polina Kudermetova, RUS (5th)
Janice Tjen, INA (1st)

*MAIDEN CAREER SLAM MD WINS AT US OPEN - 2020-25*
2020 Ysaline Bonaventure, BEL
2020 Leylah Fernandez, CAN
2020 Varvara Gracheva, RUS
2020 Katrina Scott, USA
2020 Patricia Maria Tig, ROU
2021 Valentini Grammatikopoulou, GRE
2021 Rebeka Masarova, ESP
2022 Cristina Bucsa, ESP
2022 Linda Fruhvirtova, CZE
2022 Elli Mandlik, USA
2022 Daria Snigur, UKR
2022 Yuan Yue, CHN
2023 Eva Lys, GER
2023 Lily Miyazaki, GBR
2024 Maya Joint, AUS
2024 Iva Jovic, USA
2024 Ashlyn Krueger, USA
2024 Jessika Ponchet, FRA
2024 Ena Shibahara, JPN
2025 Alex Eala, PHI
2025 Polina Kudermetova, RUS
2025 Janice Tjen, INA

**RECENT U.S. OPEN "UPSET QUEENS" WINNERS**
2016 China
2017 Japan
2018 Sweden
2019 Russia
2020 United States
2021 Russia
2022 China
2023 United States
2024 United States
2025 Asia

**RECENT U.S. OPEN "REVELATION LADIES" WINNERS**
2016 Ukraine
2017 Australia
2018 Belarus
2019 United States
2020 Belarus
2021 Greece
2022 Ukraine
2023 China
2024 Italy
2025 Russia

**RECENT U.S. OPEN "NATIONS OF POOR SOULS"**
[2020]
AUS (0-5 in 1st Rd.; #1 Barty & ex-champ Stosur DNP)
[2021]
USA (8-14 in 1st; Keys/Riske out; Serena/Venus/Kenin/Brady DNP; 3/4 '17 SF)
[2022]
GER veterans (vets 0-3, pregnant Kerber w/d)
[2023]
FRA (1-6 in 1st Rd; 9/10 FRA Top 10 out Q/1r; #7 Garcia 1r]
[2024]
CAN (0-2 in 1st Rd.; '19 W Andreescu & '21 RU Fernandez)
[2025]
CHN (1-5 in 1st Rd.; Zheng Qinwen DNP)

**RECENT U.S. OPEN "LAST WILD CARD STANDING" WINNERS**
2017 Maria Sharapova, RUS (4th Rd.)
2018 Victoria Azarenka, BLR (3rd Rd.)
2019 Kristie Ahn, USA (4th Rd.)
2020 C.Bellis/USA, K.Scott/USA & S.Vickery/USA (2nd Rd.)
2021 0-8 in 1st Rd.
2022 Elli Mandlik, USA (2nd Rd.)
2023 Caroline Wozniacki, DEN (4th Rd.)
2024 Iva Jovic/USA & Naomi Osaka/JPN (2nd Rd.)
2025 Caty McNally, USA (in 2r)

**BACKSPIN 2025 WTA PLAYER-OF-THE-MONTH WINNERS**
JAN (pre-AO): Aryna Sabalenka, BLR
AO: Madison Keys, USA
FEB: Mirra Andreeva, RUS
MAR: Mirra Andreeva, RUS
1Q...ANDREEVA
APR: Alona Ostapenko, LAT
MAY: Jasmine Paolini, ITA
RG: Coco Gauff, USA
2Q Clay Court...GAUFF
JUN: Marketa Vondrousova, CZE
WI: Iga Swiatek, POL
2Q Grass Court...SWIATEK
JUL: Leylah Fernandez, CAN
AUG (pre-U.S.): Iga Swiatek, POL
[Multiple 2025 Weekly POW Award Wins]
3 - Jessie Pegula, USA
3 - Aryna Sabalenka, BLR
2 - Mirra Andreeva, RUS
2 - Madison Keys, USA
2 - Iga Swiatek, POL
[2025 Weekly POW Award Wins]
Week 1: Aryna Sabalenka, BLR
AO Q: Maja Chwalinska, POL
Week 2: Madison Keys, USA
AO: Madison Keys, USA
Week 5: Ekaterina Alexandrova, RUS
Week 6: Belinda Bencic, SUI
Week 7: Amanda Anisimova, USA
Week 8: Mirra Andreeva, RUS
Week 9: Jessie Pegula, USA
IW: Mirra Andreeva, RUS
MIA: Aryna Sabalenka, BLR
Week 14: Jessie Pegula, USA
BJK Qualifiers: Jessic Bouzas Maneiro, ESP
Week 16: Alona Ostapenko, LAT
MAD: Aryna Sabalenka, BLR
ROM: Jasmine Paolini, ITA
Week 21: Elena Rybakina, KAZ
RG Q: Nao Hibino, JPN
RG: Coco Gauff, USA
Week 24: Tatjana Maria, GER and Elise Mertens, BEL
Week 25: Marketa Vondrousova, CZE
Week 26: Jessie Pegula, USA
WI Q: Carson Branstine, CAN
WI: Iga Swiatek, POL
Week 29: Lois Boisson, FRA
Week 30: Leylah Fernandez, CAN
CAN: Victoria Mboko, CAN
CIN: Iga Swiatek, POL
Week 35: Diana Shnaider, RUS
US Q: Janice Tjen, INA





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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: Alex Eala/PHI (3rd GS MD), Polina Kudermetova/RUS (5th MD) and Janice Tjen/INA (1st MD)
PROTECTED RANKING MD WINS: Sorana Cirstea/ROU (in 2r)
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: x
CRASH & BURN: Nominee: #6 Keys (AO champ loses 1r to Zarazua; second US 1r exit in 12 years)
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), Zarazua (1r- down set and 3-0 vs. #6 Keys); Vekic (1r- trailed Bouzas Maneiro 6-3/4-2)
IT ("?"): x
Ms.OPPORTUNITY: x
LAST QUALIFIER STANDING: 1r wins: Hon/AUS, Tjen/INA, Valentova/CZE
LAST WILD CARD STANDING: Caty McNally/USA (in 2nd Rd.)
LAST BANNERETTE STANDING: 12-13 in 1st Rd.
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 3. More tomorrow.

posted by Todd.Spiker @ 11:38 PM 

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