Category Archives: tennis

tennis

Breaking: Naomi Osaka defeats Jennifer Brady to reach the US Open Final

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Naomi Osaka produced a battling display to overcome Jennifer Brady in three sets and book her place in a second US Open final.

The 22-year-old edged a first-set tiebreak after a closely fought opening to the semi-final but found herself with a real challenge to overcome as Brady clinched the second set.

But after breaking in the middle of the final set, Osaka looked assured and focused as she sealed a 7-6, 3-6, 6-3 victory in an absorbing two hours contest at Arthur Ashe Stadium.

Osaka will take on Victoria Azarenka in Saturday’s final after the Belarusian fought from a set down to beat Serena Williams.

There was a marked difference in these two players careers coming into the semi-final clash. Osaka, already a two-time Grand Slam winner, had won here in 2018 while Brady preparing for her first-ever semi-final of a Major.

But arguably, the 25-year-old was the form player of the tournament having not dropped a single set in her five previous matches – and hadn’t conceded more than four games in a set.

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With the two biggest hitters on the WTA Tour, a fast-paced and high quality match of tennis was to be expected and the pair did not disappoint.

It was Osaka who began with a dominant love hold to set the standard and Brady soon found the level to match the Japanese.


While Osaka was dominating on her serve, winning 20 of her 21 first serve points, Brady was finding the corners with a powerful forehand and racking up four aces herself.

The no.4 seed had one question to answer after Brady earned a break point in the seventh game but kept her at an arm’s lenghth, recovering to hold and there was nothing to separate the two players after a breathless first set.

When it went to the tiebreak, Brady made a careless error to open and struggled to recover as Osaka cruised to a crushing 7-1 win in the breaker.

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Osaka had won her last 34 matches across all Grand Slams when she won the first set, a run stretching back to 2016, and Brady would need something special to come back.

That would be enough to break any player’s spirit, but Brady – who played college tennis at UCLA – is a stubborn performer, a real fighter, and it showed in the second set.

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She had to wait patiently for Osaka to drop her level on the serve and when the moment arrived in the eighth game, she edged an unbelievable baseline rally to lead 5-3 and locked down the break to force a deciding set.


While so many matches drop in intensity and quality as it goes on, this contest seemed to be increasing in its watchability. Neither player was relenting to the point where it felt almost a shame that one would be going out of the tournament.

As the rain lashed down in New York onto the closed roof at Arthur Ashe Stadium, Brady suffered a lapse in concentration and conceded a vital break to Osaka, who could go on and seal this set from 3-1 up.

With some good fortune from the net cord and some incredible work at the net, Osaka locked down the break and cruised to victory in the end to reach her third Grand Slam final, where she will meet two-time finalist Azarenka.

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tennis

Shocking: Andy Murray knocked out of U.S Open

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Andy Murray’s US Open comeback came to an end in the second round at the hands of Canadian prodigy Felix Auger-Aliassime.

Murray, in his first grand slam singles tournament since career-saving hip surgery 20 months ago, bowed out after a 6-2 6-3 6-4 defeat.


The two-time Wimbledon champion, 33, had run himself into the ground in a four-and-a-half hour, five-set marathon against Yoshihito Nishioka on Tuesday.

And a hard-running, hard-hitting 20-year-old was his opponent just two days later, with a match against Dan Evans or Corentin Moutet awaiting the winner.

Murray knew what he was up against just 10 minutes into the match, after Auger-Aliassime held serve to love before securing a break in game two.


Andy Murray shows mettle to win ‘hardest match of my career’
Murray had earmarked Auger-Aliassime’s serve as a weakness in his game, but it was impeccable. Murray, one of the finest returners the sport has ever seen, did not create a single break point.

Auger-Aliassime ran away with the first set in 41 minutes, the youngster hitting 18 winners to Murray’s one.

Even Murray at his peak, without the beaten up toes and exhausted body which left him desperate for an ice bath after his exertions against Nishioka, might have struggled to chase down some of the ground strokes exploding off the 15th seed’s racket.

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Murray stayed in the second set until 3-4, when Auger-Aliassime secured another break before booming down an ace to go 2-0 up.

Unlike the scene 48 hours ago, this time there was to be no heroic fightback. There was simply not enough left in the tank.

In 2011 Auger-Aliassime had watched from the Arthur Ashe stands as Murray beat Feliciano Lopez en route to the semi-finals.

Nine years on, at the same venue, he found what was arguably a career-best performance to stub out the former world number one’s hopes of a second Open title.

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Andy Murray makes historic comeback against Nishioka

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Andy Murray produced a comeback for the ages to progress to the second round of the US Open in a scintillating five-set thriller against Yoshihito Nishioka.

The 2012 US Open champion looked entirely flat as he fell two sets and a break down but found inspiration from the depths within, saving a match point on the way to an enthralling 4-6 4-6 7-6 7-6 6-4 victory against the world no48.


It was the Scot’s first Grand Slam appearance since a first-round exit at the 2019 Australian Open, after which he endured a lengthy absence after undergoing what was potentially a career-ending hip surgery.

The win proves another positive step in Murray’s return to fitness and form, his second-round victory over world no7 Alexander Zverev at the Western & Southern Open last week his first over an opponent ranked in the ATP’s top 10 since 2017.


Meanwhile, British no1 Johanna Konta progressed to the second round with a 6-4 6-1 win over Heather Watson to join Kyle Edmund and Cameron Norrie who went through on Monday.

The tone of the match was set in the opening game as Murray was taken to deuce by an evidently speedy Nishioka who looked entirely comfortable in rallying with the former world no1 from the baseline.

A clear pattern continued throughout the opening set, with Murray finding it difficult to break his opponent’s steely defence, hitting just six winners for 11 unforced errors as Nishioka broke in the seventh to take it 6-4.

Perhaps unaided by an almost-empty 23,000 seat Arthur Ashe Stadium, Murray’s body language looked somewhat dejected as he fell to back-to-back breaks at the start of the second, waiting until the fifth game of the set for Nishioka to make his first unforced error.

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Murray battled back defiantly from 4-0 down but managed just one of the two required breaks. And perhaps in a moment that summed up the affair, the Brit’s string broke at set point down, sending his return long to hand Nishioka another 6-4 set.


The three-time Grand Slam winner looked down and out as he was immediately broken in the third. However, he showed his never-say-die attitude to break back, dragging Nishioka into a tie-break and taking it 7-5.

Murray once again proved an entirely different force in the fourth, saving two break points in both the second and the sixth game of the set as he defiantly held on once more.

And his incredible display of determination didn’t stop there. He saved match point in the 11th game to take the fourth set into a tie-break, which he took emphatically by seven points to four.

Murray was forced to come from behind once more in the final set. After Nishioka broke in the fifth game, Murray broke straight back, before taking it 6-4 to seal a dramatic, energy-sapping win.

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