The U.S. Open has featured stability at the top with Serena Williams and Angelique Kerber, but what about everyone else? It started early with the upsets as Puerto Rico’s Monica Puig lost in the first round. Puig, the star of the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro when she won her country’s first ever gold medal, was a huge disappointment at Flushing Meadows. Lots of questions need to be answered in New York.
Madison Keys, Superstar In The Making
Serena Williams is without a doubt the most dominant superstar in women’s tennis, but she isn’t getting any younger. It may be Madison Keys who carries the baton for women’s tennis over the next decade.
Many consider Keys to be the successor to Serena Williams. Her powerful game can translate on any surface. Earlier today, Keys hinted why she could be the biggest superstar. Keys staged a dramatic
comeback to beat a tearful Naomi Osaka 7-5, 4-6, 7-6(3) and reach the fourth round. The 18-year-old Osaka, who was 5-1 up in the third set, excruciatingly collapsed as Keys swept the next five games and stunned her in the tiebreaker to steal the match. On the brink of elimination, Madison Keys played ruthless tennis and she got rewarded for it.
Garbine Muguruza And Her Grand Slam Woes
Garbine Muguruza surprised herself and stunned the world as she went down to Latvia’s Anastasija Sevastova in straight sets 7-5, 6-4. Muguruza has now failed to make round three in New York in four
attempts and she also has faced defeat in consecutive Grand Slam second rounds after checking out at the same stage in Wimbledon.
It’s hard to figure out Muguruza’s mindset. After impressing everyone in Paris with the French Open title, she has failed to back her amazing feat and has only extended her Grand Slam woes.
Caroline Wozniacki’s Resurgence
Caroline Wozniacki has had a forgettable season coming into New York. Injuries haven’t allowed her to play the kind of tennis that enabled her to reach the top of the rankings. Injuries aside, her form has eluded her, which has resulted in early exists and massive tumble down the rankings.
What better place to revive your career than New York?
The Dane has historically played her best tennis at the U.S. Open, her favorite Grand Slam. The former world No. 1, Wozniacki has continued her resurgence in the Big Apple by defeating a top-10 opponent for nearly a year, bouncing back from a horrendous start to beat 2004 champion Svetlana Kuznetsova. The No. 9 seed was one point from going up 5-0. Then Wozniacki came back to win seven straight games en route to a 6-4, 6-4 victory in the second round. The Dane backed her top-10 victory with another thumping, a 6-3, 6-1 win over Monica Niculescu to book her place in the fourth round. She won three consecutive matches for the first time since January. The form that she is in makes her a heavy favorite against Madison Keys, an offensive baseliner in the fourth round.
Is Eugenie Bouchard A Fading Star?
The Canadian beauty entered the U.S. Open ranked 39th in the world rankings but her first round eyebrow-raising 6-3, 3-6, 6-2 loss to No. 72 Katerina Siniakova will see her lose vital points. Bouchard, who climbed as high as No. 5 in the rankings two years ago, will possibly be positioned outside the top 50 at the end of this tournament. She often loses the deciding set of a match with a lopsided margin. Opponents have figured her out and she seems to have lost it both physically and mentally. In the last seven Grand Slam appearances, she has lost in the first round three times, twice in the second round, and has progressed to the third and fourth round only once. She continues to sign endorsement deals, but her once shining tennis star is quickly fading away.
Bouchard has been one of the brightest Canadian stars over the last year or so but she’s not getting the wins. In tennis, good looks help but the wins have to come or the star power will fade.
