Danny may have put a damper on Arthur Ashe Kids Day Saturday, canceling all the interactive on-site festivities in the morning at the USTA Billie Jean King Tennis Center, but the tropical depression didn't stop the stadium event or the finish of the final round of qualifying, which was mostly washed out on Friday.
Three U.S. men and two U.S. women advanced to the main draw of the U.S. Open, the most of any country, and if you take the seedings literally, none were projected to win three matches.
Jesse Witten, Michael Yani and Donald Young were all unseeded, yet in their third round matches today, all earned straight-set wins. Witten beat unseeded Alexander Peya of Austria 6-4, 6-3, Yani, who also qualified this year at Wimbledon, took out No. 3 seed Peter Luczak of Australia 6-4, 7-6(3), and Young, who did not lose a set in his three wins, defeated unseeded Lukas Rosol of the Czech Republic 6-3, 6-4. All three were slotted to take on seeds in their first round matches: Witten plays No. 29 Igor Andreev of Russia, Yani No. 22 Sam Querrey and Young No. 14 Tommy Robredo of Spain. Luczak got in as a lucky loser.
No. 25 seed Carly Gullickson, who also qualified for the French Open this year, also needed only six sets to advance; today she beat unseeded Bojana Jovanovski of Serbia 7-5, 6-2. Shenay Perry, the No. 24 seed, earned her main draw spot with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Pauline Parmentier yesterday.
The last wild card still standing, 15-year-old Laura Robson of Great Britain, was down a set to Eva Hrdinova of the Czech Republic when play resumed on Saturday. Robson took the second set, then went up 4-0 in the third before squandering that advantage and ending up in a tiebreaker for a spot in the main draw. The match went to Hrdinova 7-6(6), 4-6, 7-6(4). It was one of three women's main draw berths decided by a third set tiebreaker.
Two-time NCAA champion Somdev Devvarman didn't take any detours on the route to his first Grand Slam main draw, quickly finishing his contest with 18-year-old Jerzy Janowicz of Poland in a matter of minutes. The former Virginia Cavalier was up 6-3, 5-2 when rain halted play on Friday. "Sure, I probably didn’t sleep as well as I could have last night had I put him away, but I’d rather be in my shoes than his, that’s for sure,” Devvarman said in a quote provided by USTA PR aide Steve Pratt. “It wasn’t the most ideal way to get to my first Grand Slam but I’ll take it.”
Devvarman, who won in 2007 and 2008, joins two other NCAA singles champions in the main draw (not counting Bob Bryan, who is in the doubles draw): 2004 champion Benjamin Becker of Germany, and 2008 winner Devin Britton. Britton will play top seed Roger Federer on Arthur Ashe Stadium Monday, not before 1 p.m. Devvarman's match against Portugal's Frederico Gil and Becker's against No. 10 seed Fernando Verdasco of Spain are not likely to be given the same prominence. Defending women's champion and No. 2 seed Serena Williams plays U.S. wild card Alexa Glatch after the Federer - Britton match.
Monday's complete order of play is now available. For that and the complete draws, see usopen.org.
Source: http://tenniskalamazoo.blogspot.com
Three U.S. men and two U.S. women advanced to the main draw of the U.S. Open, the most of any country, and if you take the seedings literally, none were projected to win three matches.
Jesse Witten, Michael Yani and Donald Young were all unseeded, yet in their third round matches today, all earned straight-set wins. Witten beat unseeded Alexander Peya of Austria 6-4, 6-3, Yani, who also qualified this year at Wimbledon, took out No. 3 seed Peter Luczak of Australia 6-4, 7-6(3), and Young, who did not lose a set in his three wins, defeated unseeded Lukas Rosol of the Czech Republic 6-3, 6-4. All three were slotted to take on seeds in their first round matches: Witten plays No. 29 Igor Andreev of Russia, Yani No. 22 Sam Querrey and Young No. 14 Tommy Robredo of Spain. Luczak got in as a lucky loser.
No. 25 seed Carly Gullickson, who also qualified for the French Open this year, also needed only six sets to advance; today she beat unseeded Bojana Jovanovski of Serbia 7-5, 6-2. Shenay Perry, the No. 24 seed, earned her main draw spot with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Pauline Parmentier yesterday.
The last wild card still standing, 15-year-old Laura Robson of Great Britain, was down a set to Eva Hrdinova of the Czech Republic when play resumed on Saturday. Robson took the second set, then went up 4-0 in the third before squandering that advantage and ending up in a tiebreaker for a spot in the main draw. The match went to Hrdinova 7-6(6), 4-6, 7-6(4). It was one of three women's main draw berths decided by a third set tiebreaker.
Two-time NCAA champion Somdev Devvarman didn't take any detours on the route to his first Grand Slam main draw, quickly finishing his contest with 18-year-old Jerzy Janowicz of Poland in a matter of minutes. The former Virginia Cavalier was up 6-3, 5-2 when rain halted play on Friday. "Sure, I probably didn’t sleep as well as I could have last night had I put him away, but I’d rather be in my shoes than his, that’s for sure,” Devvarman said in a quote provided by USTA PR aide Steve Pratt. “It wasn’t the most ideal way to get to my first Grand Slam but I’ll take it.”
Devvarman, who won in 2007 and 2008, joins two other NCAA singles champions in the main draw (not counting Bob Bryan, who is in the doubles draw): 2004 champion Benjamin Becker of Germany, and 2008 winner Devin Britton. Britton will play top seed Roger Federer on Arthur Ashe Stadium Monday, not before 1 p.m. Devvarman's match against Portugal's Frederico Gil and Becker's against No. 10 seed Fernando Verdasco of Spain are not likely to be given the same prominence. Defending women's champion and No. 2 seed Serena Williams plays U.S. wild card Alexa Glatch after the Federer - Britton match.
Monday's complete order of play is now available. For that and the complete draws, see usopen.org.
Source: http://tenniskalamazoo.blogspot.com