2019 U.S. Open: Live Updates From the Second Round

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How to watch: ESPN; streaming on ESPN+ and ESPN3.

How to get there: Take the 7 subway line or the Long Island Rail Road to Mets-Willets Point.

Thursday’s schedule: Men | Women

If you are a tennis fan with a grounds pass to the United States Open on Thursday, it is your lucky day. Because most of Wednesday’s matches were rained out, Thursday’s schedule features an astonishing 75 matches, including 54 in singles.

Two of the craftiest players on tour wove together a terrific tussle on Court 4, with Karolina Muchova prevailing, 6-1, 4-6, 7-6 (2), over Hsieh Su-wei to earn the right to face Serena Williams in the third round.

Muchova, who was the more assertive player throughout the match, had three match points in the final of the game on Hsieh’s serve but could not convert any. Muchova quickly gained control of tiebreaker and closed it out, 7-2.

Muchova has experience with big wins before. Last year at the U.S. Open, as a qualifier ranked outside the top 200, she beat Garbiñe Muguruza in a night match on Armstrong Stadium. This year at Wimbledon, she outlasted the third-seeded Karolina Pliskova, 13-11, in the third set to reach the quarterfinals.

“Muchova did well in Wimbledon,” Williams recalled early Thursday. “Actually got to see some of her matches, but not enough. It will be a good job for me to watch a little bit.”

Within the first two hours of a whirlwind Thursday, there was a big upset: Andrea Petkovic, a quarterfinalist in 2011, knocked off sixth-seeded Petra Kvitova, 6-4, 6-4, at Louis Armstrong Stadium to reach the third round.

The two played several marathon games in the second set; Petkovic’s hold in the 18-point ninth game proved decisive.

Petkovic, ranked 88th, brought considerable confidence into the matchup with Kvitova, whom she has now beaten in six of 11 matches. Kvitova has also struggled with an arm injury since the French Open.

The second-round exit is Kvitova’s earliest here since 2011.

Among the other early winners were: No. 20 Sofia Kenin, who has reached the semifinals of her last two hardcourt tournaments; and No. 12 Anastasija Sevastova, who has advanced to at least the quarterfinals in New York the past three years.

Osaka, the defending champion, seemed to still be playing herself into fitness in her first-round match on Tuesday after some concerns over her left knee. But in the end, she was able to overcome those concerns as well as the nerves that she attributed to being the reigning champion. She won in three sets. On Thursday, in the second match at Armstrong Stadium, she is playing Linette, whom Osaka beat in the first round of the Australian Open this year on the way to her second Grand Slam title. Although Linette served well in her first-round match, she will have a much harder time holding against the powerful baseline game of Osaka.

When Coco Gauff, 15, broke onto the scene at Wimbledon, one quality shone above all others in her game. She has the ability to grind out points, to push past errors and find a way to secure a win. Her United States Open debut on Tuesday, a victory over Anastasia Potapova in three sets, had a similar feeling to it.

Although she committed 42 unforced errors and only 14 winners throughout the match, Gauff returned 88 percent of Potapova’s serves and put the pressure back on the young Russian.

On Thursday at 7 p.m. at Louis Armstrong Stadium, Gauff will face Timea Babos, a qualifier who has won two Grand Slam doubles titles — at the Australian Open in 2018 and at the French Open this year. Babos, a veteran Hungarian player known for her consistency, may be the perfect test for Gauff to see how she can overcome her game’s own inconsistencies.

In the first night match at Ashe Stadium, second-seeded Rafael Nadal will play Thanasi Kokkinakis. In his news conference Tuesday, Nadal jokingly referenced his injury history, saying: “I have the same body. Well, I would love a new body, but not possible for the moment.” If Tuesday’s straight-set victory over John Millman was any indication, Nadal’s old body can still do the job quite well.

Nadal called Kokkinakis, a 23-year-old Australian, a “dangerous opponent.” But the two last met at the 2014 Australian Open, where Nadal won handily, and Kokkinakis has struggled with injuries in 2019.

Here are some matches that were postponed on Wednesday that Thursday ticket-holders will get to see:

  • Jenson Brooksby vs. Nikoloz Basilashvili, Court 10: Brooksby, an 18-year-old Californian qualifier ranked No. 394, upset the veteran Tomas Berdych in four sets on Monday. He has earned $100,000 at this tournament, but as an amateur who has committed to playing at Baylor University, Brooksby cannot accept it unless he turns pro. Basilashvili, the 17th seed, who reached the round of 16 last year at the Open, will pose a significant obstacle to the young American.

  • Feliciano López vs. Yoshihito Nishioka, Court 4: Nishioka, 23, who reached the quarterfinals of the Cincinnati Masters this month but had to withdraw because of food poisoning, is one of the most exciting prospects on tour. López, 37, is experiencing a bit of a renaissance, winning the title at the Queen’s Club in the run-up to Wimbledon.



Source : NYtimes