Venus Williams Beats Back a Challenge From a Plucky American Compatriot

Venus Williams Come Back

The first time Venus Williams served for the match, she double-faulted. Then she double-faulted again. Her opponent, the plucky 25-year-old Irina Falconi, won the break, pumping dim life back into an otherwise ineffective effort.

But the second time Williams served for the match in the second set, losing that game as well, what was looking like a breezy advancement into the third round was turning into a protracted battle.

The momentum carried Falconi to a win in the tiebreaker, sending Williams into a third set for the second time in this United States Open. Williams, a 35-year-old former Open champion, eventually wore down her opponent, 6-3, 6-7 (2), 6-2 on Wednesday at Arthur Ashe Stadium. But the match required 36 additional minutes to complete, adding strain that Williams had opportunities to avoid.

 

 

“A combination of errors,” she said, summarizing what momentarily derailed her performance.

Williams, who is nine inches taller and a decade older than Falconi, moved well, coming to net 36 times, winning nearly a third of her total points. But 47 unforced errors and some struggles with her serve made it a long night.

It was reminiscent of Williams’s first-round match with Monica Puig, which featured Puig fighting off four match points in a second-set tiebreaker before conceding, 6-4, 6-7 (7), 6-3, in the heat Monday afternoon.


Two days later, under the lights, conditions were far more favorable for Williams, who has Sjogren’s syndrome, an autoimmune disorder that can sap her energy. A light breeze swept over the arena’s new roof. Williams looked comfortable early, stealing two breaks in the first set.

Falconi, who was raised in New York between the ages of 2 and 14, learning the game on courts in Inwood while attending school in Harlem, has reached no further than the third round here in 2011. But serving for the match in the second set, it was Williams, playing in the 32nd night match in her career at Ashe, who appeared shaky.

Williams twice stuck her second serve into the net for two double faults to begin the game. Three points later, Falconi celebrated as Williams’s forehand sailed wide to drop the game.


That only made the score 5-5. Williams managed to break Falconi’s next service game and give herself a second opportunity to serve for the match. But after Williams took a 30-15 lead, Falconi worked the game to deuce, eventually winning on an eight-shot rally after Williams’ groundstroke sailed long.

“I was really impressed with those drop shot returns off her serve,” Williams said. “It was insane. Just great hands.”

Williams was far more effective with her serve as Falconi began to wear down. After committing 22 unforced errors in the second set, Williams trimmed that number to 10 in the third, with seven winners and 10 points at net. She returned 23 of Falconi’s 24 serves.


Williams, the oldest player in the draw, is trying to last long enough to potentially meet her sister, Serena, in the quarterfinals. (source: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/03/sports/tennis)

Read more about : Wimbledon champ Kvitova, never a contender in New York, wins easily

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Wimbledon champ Kvitova, never a contender in New York, wins easily

Latest on US Open: 2-time Wimbledon champ Kvitova, never a contender in New York, wins easily

The U.S. Open is the only Grand Slam tournament where Petra Kvitova has never reached the semifinals. She has never even been to the quarterfinals at Flushing Meadows. Says she's not a big fan of all the hustle and bustle of the place.

That might be so, but the two-time Wimbledon champion had zero problems in the first round Tuesday night, needing about an hour for a 6-1, 6-1 victory over 126th-ranked Laura Siegemund, a qualifier from Germany.

Kvitova, seeded fifth, arrived in New York coming off a hard-court tuneup title in New Haven, Connecticut, and looked good in the final match of the U.S. Open's first round.

Petra Kvitova, of the Czech Republic, returns a shot to Laura Siegemund, of Germany, during the first round of the U.S. Open tennis tournament in New York, Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2015. Kvitova won 6-1, 6-1. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
 

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10:10 p.m.

Andy Murray was only briefly troubled by Nick Kyrgios in the most-anticipated match of the U.S. Open's first round.

The third-seeded Murray, who won the title at Flushing Meadows in 2012, hit 18 aces and saved 11 of 14 break points en route to 7-5, 6-3, 4-6, 6-1 victory over Kyrgios on Tuesday night.

Murray was mostly steady in the face of Kyrgios' various antics, which included appearing to take a nap during changeovers, smashing his racket and earning a warning from the chair umpire for cursing aloud.

Kyrgios has drawn a lot of unwanted attention lately, stemming from his trash-talking to Stan Wawrinka during a match in Montreal last month. Kyrgios was caught by courtside microphones making a comment about Wawrinka's girlfriend, earning a fine from the ATP, which also put the 20-year-old Australian on six months' probation. That warning applies only to ATP events, though; Grand Slam tournaments such as the U.S. Open are sanctioned by the International Tennis Federation.

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9:55 p.m.

Even for Nick Kyrgios, this was unusual.

At changeovers while dropping the first two sets of his first-round U.S. Open match against Andy Murray, Kyrgios — a talented and attention-grabbing 20-year-old Australian — leaned back in his chair and rested his head, looking as if he might be ready to take a nap.

He apparently never did fall asleep, though, because he kept playing, well enough to take the third set and force a fourth.

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7:30 p.m.

More players have stopped playing during matches because of injuries or illness during the first round of the U.S. Open than in any round at any Grand Slam tournament in the professional era.

With the temperature topping 90 degrees, a total of 12 men and women have retired during matches Monday and Tuesday at Flushing Meadows — with the first round still yet to be finished.

The previous mark for most retirements during any round at any major was nine at the 2011 U.S. Open.

Among the 10 men and two women pulling out so far were five retirements Tuesday: Marcos Baghdatis, Ernests Gulbis, Thanasi Kokkinakis, Aleksandr Nedovyesov and Marina Erakovic.

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6:30 p.m.

Roger Federer gives credit where credit is due.

The 17-time major champion says several past opponents helped him become the player he is.

Federer mentioned Andre Agassi and Lleyton Hewitt as the first to force him to improve.

Those two "really made me feel like a bad baseliner to an extent, until I realized I had to move better and be more consistent, have variation in my game," Federer said after his first-round victory at the U.S. Open on Tuesday.

Federer picked up pointers on serve-and-volley tactics from Pete Sampras and Tim Henman, for example.

And more recently, Rafael Nadal made Federer's backhand better.

"Rafa challenged my backhand the most throughout my career," he said. "I had to return differently every single time I played against him."

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5:05 p.m.

Victoria Azarenka's been known to flash a temper on court — and it happened again during her first-round victory at the U.S. Open.

This was the testy exchange Tuesday at Louis Armstrong Stadium that Azarenka, a two-time Australian Open champion and two-time U.S. Open runner-up, had with chair umpire Aurelie Tourte:

Azarenka: "Have you ever played tennis?"

Tourte: "Yes."

(Source:http://www.usnews.com/news/sports/)

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