LONG DAY AT U.S. OPEN ENDS WITH NISHIKORI AND RAONIC TYING RECORD BY RICKY DIMON

Written by: Staff on 2nd September 2014

LONG DAY AT U.S. OPEN ENDS WITH NISHIKORI AND RAONIC TYING RECORD BY RICKY DIMON

epa04380303 Kei Nishikori of Japan hits a return to Milos Raonic of Canada during the eighth day of the 2014 US Open Tennis Championship at the USTA National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, New York, USA, 01 September 2014. The US Open runs through 08 September, a 15-day schedule. EPA/JASON SZENES |

EDITORS NOTE: the match finished at around 2:30 in the morning. It may sound like fun to any or all but it’s NOT ! What other sport do you play into the middle of the night ? How can you ask your body to perform at its highest level ? What time does all the staff that worked travel home and what time do they start again the next day ? Night tennis is ridiculous ! Just saying.

CiCi Bellis struck the first serve on the show courts shortly after 11:00 a.m. on Monday at the U.S. Open. More than 15 hours later, Labor Day action finally ended with a winning volley by Kei Nishikori. When it was all said and done, Nishikori’s match against Milos Raonic tied the latest finish in tournament history at 2:26 a.m.

And it happened despite no extenuating circumstances. In other words, there were no rain delays and no extended Arthur Ashe day matches that sometimes go well into the evening and push back the night session. No, the night session started on time–it just wouldn’t end.

Victoria Azarenka and upstart Serb Aleksandra Krunic waged a fourth-round battle that lasted two hours and 19 minutes. Krunic got off to a hot start and led by a set, but the 16th-seeded Azarenka ended up prevailing 4-6, 6-4, 6-4.

Victoria Azarenka of Belarus hits a return to Aleksandra Krunic of Serbia during the eighth day of the 2014 US Open Tennis Championship at the USTA National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, New York, USA, 01 September 2014. The US Open runs through 08 September, a 15-day schedule. EPA/JASON SZENES

Raonic and Nishikori then took the court and played for four hours and 19 minutes in what is currently the longest match of this year’s U.S. Open. Like Azarenka, Nishikori recovered from a set deficit–twice, in fact–to pull off a 4-6, 7-6(4), 6-7(6), 7-5, 6-4 triumph.

“Very happy to see a lot of people even {at) 2:00,” Nishikori said when asked about the diehard fans. “I don’t even know how they go back home. Very happy to play like that. It’s always fun to play here.”

Kei Nishikori of Japan (R) shakes hands with Milos Raonic of Canada after defeating him in five sets during the eighth day of the 2014 US Open Tennis Championship at the USTA National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, New York, USA, 02 September 2014. This is the latest match finish in US Open history. The US Open runs through 08 September, a 15-day schedule. EPA/JASON SZENES

“I thought in general it was a good match if you sort of step away from it and you look at the whole thing,” Raonic reflected. “I wish I could have been let’s say more efficient in many aspects, like my serve and other things. But I kept fighting, and that’s all I can ask…. It was fun how many people stuck around. The atmosphere and all those other factors [were] a lot of fun.”

Playing much earlier and on much smaller courts–even in Bellis’ case despite playing on the Grandstand–juniors picked up their rackets for first-round action. Bellis, the top-seeded girl who also reached the second round in the women’s event, trounced Renata Zarazua of Mexico 6-1, 6-3. On the day, American girls posted a combined 6-7 record. Among those joining Bellis in the second round was No. 4 seed Tornado Black, who rolled over Australia’s Kimberly Birrell 7-5, 6-0.

On the boys’ side, the United States’ contingent went 3-5 on Monday. American seeds were 3-1, while unseeded Americans were a winless 0-4.

Jared Donaldson, Stefan Kozlov, and Taylor Harry Fritz advanced to the second round. Donaldson, the third seed who also got a wild card into the men’s main draw and lost to Gael Monfils, pummeled Pedro Iamachkine 6-1, 6-0.

Ricky contributes to 10sballs.com and also maintains his own tennis website, The Grandstand.

Topics: Aleksandra Krunic, CiCi Bellis, Kei Nishikori, milos raonic, Ricky Dimon, Tennis Results, US Open, Victoria Azarenka

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10sBalls_com says:

September 2, 2014 at 9:05 am

LONG DAY AT @usopen ENDS WITH @keinishikori AND @milosraonic TYING RECORD BY @RD_Tennistalk- http://t.co/u6PB6y1NsB #tennis #usopen #raonic
RD_Tennistalk says:

September 2, 2014 at 9:14 am

RT @10sBalls_com: LONG DAY AT @usopen ENDS WITH @keinishikori AND @milosraonic TYING RECORD BY @RD_Tennistalk- http://t.co/u6PB6y1NsB #tenn…