The Belgian Elise mertens, sixteenth seeded, closed the eighth day of the United States Open with the big surprise behind remove to the american, Sofia Kenin, second seeded, in the round of 16 after winning it in straight sets by 6-3 and 6-3. He hardly needed Mertens one hour and 14 minutes action that gave him victory and being for the second consecutive year in the Open quarterfinals.
Mertens, former Australian Open semi-finalist, completely mystified Kenin, who at 21 years and 302 days, was the youngest player still left in the tournament's women's draw, where her compatriot Serena Williams (38 years and 351 days), third seeded, who classified fourth, is the largest.
“I played quite aggressively from the first ball, and that's quite necessary against her because she's a great player who can hit a lot of great angles, “Mertens explained during her on-court interview.” I tried to always get into the party, not losing focus and luckily my first serve was working so it was a huge bonus. “
Kenin had won their last 10 games in the main draw after lifting his first Grand Slam title at the Australian Open, last January. But Mertens proved too strong tonight under the center court lights Arthur Ashe Stadium, where he finished the match with 19 winning strokes against only seven unforced errors, despite the strength and aggressiveness that the Belgian tennis player always put 24 years at his game.
“Had confidence and physical strength to do things well and that was what happened from the beginning of the game, “Mertens said.” I think that did not favor Kenin when he tried to get into the game and impose his rhythm. Kenin finished the match with three double faults, by none of Mertens, who placed seven 'aces' and zero for the current Australian Open champion, who finished with 23 winners against 26 unforced errors.
Mertens and Kenin they had facedpreviously twice in 2019, with two triumphs narrowly for the tennis player U.S, in three sets, during the Mallorca Open and Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open tournaments.
“It's always good to have matches against players who have beaten you before, because you know you have to do better. In fact, I saw the Wuhan match, but the most important thing is that I tried to stay focused, and that's what I did tonight. “Mertens explained that he will fight for a place in the semifinals with Victoria Azarenka
Azarenka comes back against Muchova
Belarusian Victoria Azarenka, number 27 in the world, traced a set against and beat this Monday 5-7, 6-1 and 6-4 to the czech Karolina Muchova, 20th seeded, to reach the quarterfinals of the US Open for the fifth time, the first time since 2015.
Azarenka, 31, who has an undefeated streak of nine consecutive games, including those who gave him the victory last week in the Cincinnati Premier 5 , he was facing Muchova for the first time. The two-time Grand Slam winner and also a two-time Open finalist, will have as next opponent in the quarters to the Belgian Elise Mertens.
The duel with Much it was the first for Azarenka, who needed two hours and 29 minutes of action before beating the 24-year-old, and number 26 in the world, who played her third Open and achieved the best classification this year after overcoming the third round she had reached in the first two.
Auque began dominating the young Czech, fourth runner-up at last year's Wimbledon, Azarenka played a cleanest match, scoring 21 winners for 28 unforced errors. While Muchova made more winners, she also made more mistakes (32-45), breaking six times when the Belarusian won nearly half of the points played on the rest of the Czech star.
“I feel very happy to follow doing my best teniyes and aadvancing in the tournament, without having changed my goal of thinking only match by match, “Azarenka declared on the court at the end of the match.” Even though I lost the first set, I knew I could come back because I have great preparation and confidence in my game. “