W&S Open Day 3: Serena, Osaka sneak out wins; Kvitova loses

Day 4 of the Western & Southern Open was filled with comeback wins from some of the WTA’s top players. Those winners included Serena Williams and Naomi Osaka.

What a day. From 10 and 12 consecutive holds of serve to more seeded upsets, Day 4 of the WTA’s Western & Southern Open certianly did not disappoint. Here are the two marquee matches for the day.

(3) Serena Williams def. Arantxa Rus 7-6 (6), 3-6, 7-6 (0)

After the top two seeds in the tournament, Karolina Pliskova and Sofia Kenin, were both beaten soundly yesterday in two sets, anything could happen. Serena Williams entered the day with a question mark over her head, exactly like Kenin and Pliskova had yesterday. She participated in Lexington last week but was handed an early exit in the quarterfinals by Shelby Rogers. Her inconsistencies were obviously due to rust and other factors but nevertheless, the question mark still remains.

The match opened up with one of the most uncharistic starts in an WTA bout: 12 straight holds. Yes, you heard that right. 12 straight holds. Only two of the twelve games went into deuce (both of which on Rus’ serve) and the pair combined for one break point opportunity (for Serena at 2-1). The tiebreak was equally as close; Rus opened up a 2-love lead but couldn’t extend any further than that. She had a set point at 6-5 on her serve but failed to convert. Serena then won the last three points the tiebreak to narrowly skirt past her opponent.

The hold streak couldn’t last forever. Serena finally got her first break of serve at 30-40 and looked to be on her way to cleaning up a straight sets debut in New York. Rus, however, wasn’t going down without a fight and broke right back without a second to think. After a Rus hold, she broke yet again, this time needing only one opportunity to do so. Four consecutive holds later and Rus was facing a 5-3 lead or her serve. She cleaned up nicely and won the set on her second try. She was extremely effective on her serve this set and outplayed Serena heavily in the category by winning 86% of her first serve points in comparison to Serena’s 67.

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Rus’ momentum stopped enteringthe third set as Serena saved four break points from love-40 down on her way to an opening hold. The 23-time major champion followed that up with a mesmerizingly quick break of serve and yet another hold. Three games into the final set and Rus was on her back heels. Four more holds in a row and Serena had the opportunity to return for the set. She got within two points twice but was unable to close.

The dynamic quickly shifted as Rus finally turned up the gas in order to make a comeback. In the next four games, Serena won just 7 points to her opponent’s 17. At 6-5, Rus had the same chane as Serena did at 5-2 to return for the set and also got within two points. After breaking Rus on her third try, Serena was back in the match.

After nearly three hours of play, the match still wasn’t over but Serena Williams was here to change that. In a flurry of aces, powering groundstrokes, and ferocious yells fit only for her, she emerged out of the tiebreak with 7 straight points to claim the epic match 7-6 (6), 3-6, 7-6 (0).

“I did hit a wall today in the second set, I was so hot. That never happens,” Williams said. “…Tennis is mental. You know, it’s all mental.”

She certainly got into her own head. Her trademark “come-on” was calling out to an imaginary crow, giving her the energy she needed to storm back and win the match.

“I had a crowd in my head or something. For me, it was like there was a crowd there.”

There certainly was, it seemed. She moves on to face 13-seeded Maria Sakkari, who is fresh off of two consecutive straight-set wins over Coco Gauff and Yulia Putintseva.

(4) Naomi Osaka def. Karolina Muchova (5) 6-7, 6-4, 6-2

Naomi Osaka has yet to play in any tournament since the sshutdown, snactioned or exhibition. It looked that way as she was broken at love to start the match. She was able to rebound an break right back to even the match at 1-all.

What followed in the next ten games was nothing short of unbelivable. Osaka and Muchova engaged in 10 straight breaks of serve and included zero games that went into deuce. Both converted over 70% of their first serve points (75% for Osaka and 73for Muchova). Muchova was able to greb aquick 3-0 lead in the tiebreak and on her sceond set point at 6-5, she was able to convert to take the first set.

Despite losing the first set, Osaka had one thing going: her serve. She only had 24 total point on her serve in the set and won 20 of them (10-of-12 on both the first and second serves). She was able to pound through Muchova on her serve and only needed one break of serve (the opening game of the set) to get the edge to even the match. ALthough Muchova wasn’t broken after the first game, she couldn’t do anything on Osaka’s serve and only got within two points once in five games.

Osaka’s serving clinic continued in the final set. She opened up with an easy break of serve and was able to fend off Muchova’s first sign of life on the return since her break during the very first game of the match. Osaka saved two break points and took a 2-0 lead. The two then engaged in a four deuce game that saw Osaka hold four break chances. It was the first real competitive spat the two had faced since the opening set tiebreak. Osaka was able to convert her final chance to put the match out of reach.

4 more holds folowed and Osaka had a 5-2 lead. From there, she converted on her only match point attempt with a quick winner to sneak past her opponent. She’ll face 13th-seeded Dayana Yastremska in the Round of 16.

Other Notable Results

6th-seeded Petra Kvitova became yet another high seed to fall out early. She lost in three sets to Marie Bouskoba, 2-6, 7-5, 6-2.
Defending champion Madison Keys (seeded 7th) was defeated soundly 6-4, 6-1 by Ons Jabeur to end the night.

Day 3 Full Results (Round of 32)

Marie Bouskova def. (6) Petra Kvitova 2-6, 7-5, 6-2

(8) Johanna Konta def. Kirsten Flipkens 6-2, 6-0

Jessica Pegula def. Amanda Anisimova 7-5, 6-2

Christina McHale def. Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-1, 7-6 (8)

(3) Serena Williams def. Arantxa Rus 7-6 (6), 3-6, 7-6 (0)

(14) Elise Mertens def. Kristina Mladenovic 6-1, (5) 6-7, 6-3

Vera Zvonareva def. Laura Siegemund 6-1, 6-1

(4) Naomi Osaka def. Karolina Muchova (5) 6-7, 6-4, 6-2

Victoria Azarenka def. Caroline Garcia 6-2, 7-6

(12) Anett Kontaveit def. Jill Teichmann 6-3, 6-4

(13) Maria Sakkari def. Yulia Putintseva 6-4, 7-6 (9)

(5) Aryana Sabalenka def. CiCi Bellis (1) 6-7, 6-4, 7-5

(16) Dayana Yastremska def. Bernarda Pera 7-6 (5), 4-6, 6-3

Ons Jabeur def. (7) Madison Keys 6-4, 6-1

Day 4 Full Schedule (Round of 16)

11:00 AM EST

Court 17: (12) Anett Kontaveit vs Marie Bouzkova

Court 7: (14) Elise Mertens vs Veronika Kudermentova

1:00 PM

Grandstand: (8) Johanna Konta vs Vera Zvonareva

Court 10: (5) Aryana Sabalenka vs Jessica Pegula

Court 7: Victoria Azarenka vs Alize Cornet

3:00 PM

Court 17: (4) Naomi Osaka vs (16) Dayana Yastremska

5:00 PM

Court 17: Ons Jabeur vs Christina McHale

7:00 PM

Grandstand: (3) Serena Williams vs (13) Maria Sakkari

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