30-year-old Julia Goerges upset No. 7 seed Kiki Bertens to make the Round of 16 at the US Open for just the second time in her career. (She also advanced that far in 2017, losing to eventual champion Sloane Stephens.) Get to know the No. 26 seed before she faces off against Croatia's Donna Vekic for a quarterfinal berth:
She's an incredible ball striker.
Goerges is a big hitter with a great serve, and her defensive skills have improved immensely over the last few years. The overall improvement in her game is reflected in her ranking: she reached a career-high world No. 9 in August 2018.
She saved a match point in Round 1.
Goerges was taken to a final set tiebreak by Natalia Vikhlyantseva and saved a match point before coming back to win the first round contest, 1-6, 6-1, 7-6. Earlier this year, Goerges also saved a match point earlier this year, against Eugenie Bouchard in the quarterfinals of the ASB Classic in Auckland, NZ and went on to lift the trophy.
There are some parallels between her run at the 2019 US Open and her previous best Grand Slam showing.
She has only been past the Round of 16 at a Grand Slam once, making the Wimbledon semifinals in 2018. Who did she beat to get there? None other than Bertens and her opponent on Monday, Donna Vekic. Goerges is currently 3-0 against the Croat.
She's had to play Serena Williams at majors a lot recently.
Given her powerful game and improved form over the last few years, Goerges has had some hype going into Grand Slams—until the draw comes out. She's run up against—and lost to—the 23-time major champion multiple times at Grand Slams: in the third round of Wimbledon this year (Serena won, 6-3, 6-4), in the semifinals of Wimbledon last year (Serena won, 6-2, 6-4), and in the third round of the French Open last year (Serena won, 6-3, 6-4). This time, at the 2019 US Open, they're on opposite sides of the draw and couldn't meet until the final.
It's pronounced "Ger-ges"–with two hard 'g's.
Not "Gor-geous" or "Ger-jes."
