WHAT HAPPPENED: Julia Goerges of Germany gunned her way into the third round of the US Open by crushing forehands past American Francesca Di Lorenzo. The No. 26 seed fought off all six break points in the first set on her way to a 7-5, 6-0 victory on Thursday.
Goerges delivered an all-out assault through two sets, crushing balls down the line—but missing more often than not. Her first-serve percentage was just 61 percent, helping Di Lorenzo earn six break points. But Goerges came up with her best stuff on those big points, and Di Lorenzo, who plays with a lot of spin, struggled to figure out her timing off of Goerges’ power. The first set stayed even until 4-4. Despite a tremendous effort from Di Lorenzo to win a point after slipping into the splits and getting back up to run down a drop shot, she dropped serve, perhaps with too much serving to her opponent’s forehand.
The German jumped out to 0-40 on Di Lorenzo’s serve in the first game of the second set. The American gamely fought one off with amazing defense, winning a shootout with terrific backhand preparation. Then, seemingly trying to match Goerges’ aggression, Di Lorenzo went too big at 30-40 and missed a forehand. Goerges held at love in the next game despite not landing a first serve.
Di Lorenzo found it increasingly harder to keep up with Goerges' power as the German cleaned up her forehand wing, landing seven winners from that side in the second set compared to four in the first. Sometimes, Di Lorenzo had a hard time just saying on her feet, skidding and slipping to the ground while trying to retrieve. Georges, despite making just three first serves in the second set, smothered the court from the baseline and closed on her first match point with a forehand down the line.
WHAT IT MEANS: Despite winning five career titles on hard court, Georges has reached the fourth round of the US Open only once—in 2017, when it took eventual champ Sloane Stephens to beat her in the fourth round. If Goerges is going to match that result, though, she will have to get past No. 7 seed Kiki Bertens—but Bertens hasn’t been past the third round at the US Open in seven tries. Bertens leads the match-up 2-1.
MATCH POINT: Goerges, who led the WTA in aces by 100 coming into last year’s US Open, had only two today.
