Tennis News

NEW YORK, NY, USA – Anastasija Sevastova held her nerve to pull off the win of her life at the US Open, dispatching No.3 seed and reigning French Open champion Garbiñe Muguruza, 7-5, 6-4.

“It still hasn’t settled in,” she said in her post-match press conference. “I mean, I’m tired mentally and it’s late. Normally I go to sleep at this time.

“It feels great, but it’s still not like I won the tournament. It’s only second round.”

Sevastova was a rising star back in 2011, reaching the fourth round of the Australian Open at 20 years old. But injuries soon sapped the desire away from the young Latvian, who hung up her racquets two years later, and was off the tour for two years more.

“I was playing a little bit. I was doing some sparring. It was better, physically. I was still playing okay. That’s why I think I decided to try again to come back.

“But you never know. A lot of people are trying to come back, and sometimes it doesn’t work out. That’s why I wanted to start from the beginning, from the lowest level.”

Playing on the game’s biggest stage, Sevastova thrilled the Arthur Ashe crowd as she took the first set and raced out to a 5-1 lead in the second, holding two match points in the next game.

“I stopped thinking. I was thinking too much at 5-2, 5-3. Then I said, ‘Okay, I have one more chance at 5-4. She’s serving. I broke her before enough times, so I will try this one more time.’

“And still, even then it’s only 5-5. It’s still an open match like the first set.”

In 2015, she came out of retirement. Tonight, she beats a GS champ. #Sevastova d. #Muguruza 7-5, 6-4. @MBUSA #usopen https://t.co/a5xfmjm8XC

— US Open Tennis (@usopen) September 1, 2016

That positivity took the Latvian over the finish line, breaking serve to love to clinch the biggest upset thus far.

“I think it was a very tough match,” Muguruza said after the match. “I think I didn’t play well today. I think she also played well. Everything she was doing was working. Maybe at the last part of the match I could feel like I could have a chance to come back, but, in fact, it was like 50/50.

“So at the end she played well, and that’s it.”

Still, the Spaniard seemed to take the defeat in stride, joking about her less-than-stellar record at the US Open.

“I try to give my all. I try to fight on court. She was just better. I don’t know if it’s bad luck.

“But, well, I did my best result again! I’m just saying that.”

Up next for Sevastova is Kateryna Bondarenko, who won a dramatic 5-7, 7-6(5), 7-5 match over China’s Zheng Saisai earlier in the evening.

#Sevastova with the UPSET ? tonight. Hear the call ? as she defeats No. 3 #Muguruza. https://t.co/TUa8gGkyTL

— US Open Tennis (@usopen) September 1, 2016

NEW YORK, NY, USA – Samantha Stosur is widely regarded as one of the most popular players on tour. And it is easy to understand why; magnanimous in defeat, honest to the press and generous with her time for other players, Stosur is not one for airs and graces.

One player who will testify to the above is Zhang Shuai. A regular practice partner of the Australian, Zhang sought her counsel at a particularly low ebb. In fact it was Stosur that talked the Chinese player out of hanging up the racquets for good, during a meal in Beijing last year.

The sisterly pep talk seemed to do the trick as just a few months later Zhang ended her long-running Grand Slam hoodoo by making it all the way through qualifying and into the quarterfinals of the Australian Open.

The 27-year-old looks capable of replicating this success at the US Open where she is through to the third round following a bittersweet upset of Stosur.

“She helped me a lot last year when I thought about retiring. She told me to keep going and not give up. She tried to help me by playing doubles,” Zhang said.

“It’s a tough feeling playing her and I feel sad for Sam. She always tries her best, she loves the game. I hope that next time we will meet later in the tournament.”

Zhang had lost her only previous meeting with Stosur, at Roland Garros this May, and admitted afterwards that it was a result she believed beyond her: “Before the match I didn’t think I could beat her because she was a champion of the US Open and she has very good serve and very good spinning forehand. It’s very tough to play her. She beat me in the French Open so this gives me a lot of confidence.”

Next up is another fearsome ball-striker, Yaroslava Shvedova, as Zhang attempts to follow in the footsteps of compatriots Peng Shuai and Li Na by reaching the second week in New York.

“I am very excited. I love New York. Now I want to focus on my tennis and not on the fact that I am the last Chinese woman left in the competition.”

Zhang Shuai floored to be in the 3R @usopen. “Usually when other people start the tournament I’m already in China,” referring to 1R history.

— WTA Insider (@WTA_insider) 2 September 2016

NEW YORK, NY, USA – Sunday saw the identity of the first four quarterfinalists at this year’s US Open revealed. Among their number is the evergreen Roberta Vinci, her victory over Lesia Tsurenko ensuring Italy has a representative at this stage for the ninth year in succession.

Joining the WTA Insider team on the latest podcast is Italian journalist Luca Baldissera to discuss his compatriot’s chances against World No.2 Angelique Kerber in the last eight.

In the latest Daily Dispatch hear from Anastasija Sevastova’s entertaining and insightful press conference, Madison Keys, Petra Kvitova and a preview of the remaining fourth-round clashes:

Subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, TuneIn or on any podcast app of your choice to ensure you never miss an episode when they go live. Reviews are always helpful, so if you like what you’ve heard so far, leave us one. You can also get new episode alerts by following us on Twitter @WTA_Insider.

Follow @WTA_Insider

NEW YORK, NY, USA – Caroline Wozniacki’s fairytale in New York continued with a 6-0, 6-2 quarterfinal win over Anastasija Sevastova at the US Open.

“It feels great,” she told press when asked about returning to the semifinals. “It’s a tournament that I love. I love being here. I love playing in this incredible stadium.”

Wozniacki had spent most of the spring struggling with an ankle injury that ruled her out of the clay court season, but it was Sevastova who had her own ankle issues on Tuesday night. Rolling it just two games into the match, the Latvian stuggled to win games after getting injured.

“For sure it was affecting my play, but I’m not a person that likes to retire during a match, so I just tried my best,” Sevastova said after the match.

“But the movement was different. It was harder to move. And also on serve it was harder to get out of the serve.”

Sevastova managed to get on the board late in the second set, forcing the Dane to serve out her first Grand Slam semifinal in exactly two years.

“I think I was just extra focused, because I saw her fall in that second game,” Wozniacki said. “She stood up, and I knew if she can still walk and still put weight on it and stuff then she’s going to go obviously more for her shots and stuff like that.

“But I thought, cool. I kept serving well and made her run. I’m pleased with how I managed to keep composed.”

“I'm going to make the most of the opportunity that I get here.” – @CaroWozniacki #usopen https://t.co/j7vdaqWiYu pic.twitter.com/Qbv3iENCTO

— US Open Tennis (@usopen) September 6, 2016

Starting the tournament down at No.74, Wozniacki has looked stronger with each performance, taking out two Top 10 players in Svetlana Kuznetsova and Madison Keys, and will face an old foe in No.2 seed Angelique Kerber, who is aiming to earn the No.1 ranking Wozniacki herself held for 67 weeks.

“I think when you’re a little kid and you don’t know what anything really means, everybody knows what it means to be the best in the world and everybody knows what it means to be No. 1.

“Obviously being No. 1 in the world is extremely special, and I’m sure Angie is feeling it, too. I’m sure that she is going to do everything to get that ranking. She’s been playing really well this year.

“It’s something that very few people in the world has ever achieved. I mean, how crazy is it to say that you’re the best in the world at something? Doesn’t matter if tennis, football, being a lawyer, whatever it is. It’s really special.

“Right now, for me, being 70-something, it doesn’t really mean much to me. I still believe and feel like I’m one of the top players and grinding my way back, so that’s why I’m saying for me the ranking is just a number right now, because I’m not No. 1 and there is a long way for me right now to get back to No. 1.

“But I’m doing my best to just play my best tennis and have fun with it. It’s really all that I can do right now.”

Kerber advanced earlier in the day after a tricky opening set against 2015 finalist Roberta Vinci, winning, 7-5, 6-0, to reach her second career US Open semifinal.

“I have seen the results and she’s been doing great. I’m really happy for her. She’s a hard worker.

“But to be honest, when I was injured I didn’t watch one match. I don’t know. I have to watch tapes. Obviously I have had tough matches against her in the past. She’s a great competitor. She looks fit, so it’s going to be a tough one.”

A great tournament for #Sevastova ends at the hands of @CaroWozniacki. 6-0 6-2. Onto the Semis! #usopen @chase https://t.co/5or0rih41f

— US Open Tennis (@usopen) September 7, 2016