ROS SATAR LOOKS AT THE U.S. OPEN TENNIS SERENA WILLIAMS TO PLAY POSSIBLE “SPOILER” BETHANIE MATTEK-SANDS

Written by: Staff on 3rd September 2015

Eugenie Bouchard of Canada hits a return to Alison Riske of the US during their match on the first day of the 2015 US Open Tennis Championship at the USTA National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, New York, USA, 31 August 2015. The US Open runs through 13 September, which is a return to a 14-day schedule. EPA/JASON SZENES

epa04907002 Eugenie Bouchard of Canada hits a return to Alison Riske of the US during their match on the first day of the 2015 US Open Tennis Championship at the USTA National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, New York, USA, 31 August 2015. The US Open runs through 13 September, which is a return to a 14-day schedule. EPA/JASON SZENES |

What we watched on Day 4 & What we want to see on Day 5

Can I take a moment just to say what a relief it is to have the first round done and dusted in two days? This is, of course, partially due to the (albeit) hot and humid weather, but also a change in Television partners which means that the US Open now falls into line with two of the other Slams.

But at its heart it takes a lot of pressure off the players – why is this important? Well come on now – without them there would not be the biggest show in town in The Big Apple. Now at least (weather permitting) players will by and large be playing every other day until the end, where women’s quarter-finalists may finish on the Wednesday day session, and be back for the night session on Thursday night. But if we want to see history being made, surely it makes sense not to throw huge roadblocks in their way?

Anyway – we do have a long way to go before that, so without further ado, let’s settle down with a cuppa and a donut (we particularly like those apple fritter ones… we also like the treadmill at the gym), and take in the best action of Day 4.

We were back to scattered seeds today in the blistering heat of the day, as Wimbledon finalist and ninth seed Garbiñe Muguruza was bounced out of the US Open by… (allows herself quiet drumroll) Brit No. 2 Jo Konta.

Konta made the most of her initial momentum after putting a lot of pressure on the Spaniard’s serve to finally take her chance for a quick lead. She was just not able to close out the first set as once more Muguruza struggled to grapple with game, but she made no mistake in their first tie-break.

She continued to put the Spaniard under pressure in the second set, but perhaps the victim of a controversial line call in the tie-break, Muguruza’s dreams of hanging on to her best ever run in the US Open (yes, you read that right!) were kept alive as they split sets.

A furious Konta made no headway arguing the contentious call, so rather than engaging her inner Coco Vandeweghe and killing her racquet, she proceeded to keep clobbering the Spaniard, leaping out to a 4-0 lead until Muguruza put in a mighty hold but in truth it was too little too light as she too joined the seeds graveyard with Konta winning 7-6(4) 6-7(4) 6-2 for one of the most significant wins of her career – she gets Andrea Petkovic next.

We almost thought Victoria Azarenka was in trouble in the opener on Ashe today, as she lost her serve at the start of the match, an the pair battled away at the tail end of the set before the Belarusian edged the first set.

Wickmayer was not done yet, as she put Azarenka under pressure once more early in the second, making the 20th seed save five break points. Another round of traded breaks with Wickmayer breaking back as Azarenka was serving for the match kept the crowd on their toes, before she closed out a 7-5 6-4 win.

So let us put our trust in Simona Halep, who continued to show a clean pair of heels with a comfortable straight sets win over Kateryna Bondarenko 6-3 6-4 while all around her the drama is swirling.

Day 5 Preview

We’ll let you into a little secret – thought it was Saturday already, so pleasantly surprised we’re only at Friday, but boy do we have some corkers.

Serena Williams v Bethanie Mattek-Sands

We have another all American affair to savour, and once more history may be put a little further away from Serena, as she takes on fellow countrywoman and wildcard Mattek-Sands. She showed in her win over Vandeweghe that she has the weapons to hurt. And Williams knows this better than most. She had looked ill at ease and her serve had gone sight-seeing in The Big Apple. So much so that just minutes after her win, she was out on the practice court, hammering out those serves. We think this will be another stern test for her.

We will stay on the fence on this one. ..

Madison Keys v Agnieszka Radwanska

Ninja skills versus heavy hitting? Guile versus raw power? Whichever way we phrase it, Keys has her work cut out for her to overturn a 0-4 head to head against the Pole. If there was ever a player to be able to combat the ferocious pace of Keys, it has proved to be Radwanska. Having dropped out of the Top 10, maybe the pressure is off a little, having struggled with the weight of expectation on her at Slams, especially having made the Wimbledon final in 2012. It’s been a topsy-turvy year for her, losing Martina Navratilova as a super-coach and slipping down the rankings. We’ll take that topsy-turvy and raise you the talent, but unpredictable emotions of Keys and we have a fascinating match here – and we’ll give the Pole the edge but this could be another ding-dong battle

Radwanska in 3.

Genie Bouchard v Dominika Cibulkova

Much is being made of Bouchard turning a corner, finding new confidence in mentor (maybe) Jimmy Connors, but beware the pocket rocket that is Cibulkova. She has already stunned Ana Ivanovic before having to come from a set down against Jessica Pegula, and while Bouchard had a three-setter to contend with herself, to get this far.

The 2014 Australian Open finalist is still fighting her way back up the rankings after an injury-marred year, but even though this is a first time meeting, she seems to be hitting her stride. Bouchard appears to have more confidence now, but rarely has a Plan B and with the gritty scrambling Slovakian – well we’ll go with Cibulkova to be today’s dark horse (albeit Shetland Pony-sized)!

Cibulkova in 3.

Belinda Bencic v Venus Williams

Will Bencic scalp another Williams? We’ve had tantrums at umpires and sheepish apologetic tweets from the teen, but what a talent and what a battle in store as the oldest person in the draw takes on one of six teens in the draw (but not the youngest), and it will be a real test of experience versus the exuberance of youth. Bencic has weathered that difficult storm of the transition from juniors to seniors in quite some style, and she just may deny us the chance of a quarter-final match-up between the Williams siblings.

Bencic in 3.

Tidbits

Caroline Wozniacki who closes out tonight’s session returned to the Top 10 last year after her run to the final, as she seeks to advance to the third round she has a few more to go to better her best this Grand Slam effort this season, after bombing out of the Australian Open and The French Open in the second round, and making the round of 16 at Wimbledon.

Petra Kvitova may struggle with the conditions, but came in with the New Haven win, her third in the last four years – the first time she has won any tour title three times. The last person to do the New Haven and US Open double was Venus Williams in 2000 and 2001.

Crunching Numbers – Want to know what goes into scheduling a grand slam? Including qualifying rounds, we are talking 919 matches over 18 days, as many as 70 different matches over 16 courts. Once the young whippersnappers get involved that goes up to 21 courts on the first Friday. Get those Excel spreadsheets out!

Ros Satar is a regular contributor to 10sballs.com and runs Britwatch Sports (@britwatchsports), because we Brits like watching sport. Occasionally we’re good at it.

Topics: 10sballs.com, Agnieszka Radwanska, Belinda Bencic, BETHANIE Mattek-Sands, Caro Wozniacki, Coco Vandeweghe, Dominika Cibulkova, Garbine Muguruza, Genie Bouchard, Madison Keys, Ros Satar, Serena Williams, Tennis, U.S. Open tennis, Venus Williams, Victoria Azarenka

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10sBalls_com says:

September 3, 2015 at 5:33 pm

-@rfsatar LOOKS AT THE @usopen #TENNIS @serenawilliams TO PLAY POSSIBLE “SPOILER” @BMATTEK-SANDS- http://t.co/0V1bbjxw49 #USOpen2015 #WTA
rfsatar says:

September 4, 2015 at 12:49 am

RT @10sBalls_com: -@rfsatar LOOKS AT THE @usopen #TENNIS @serenawilliams TO PLAY POSSIBLE “SPOILER” @BMATTEK-SANDS- http://t.co/0V1bbjxw49 …