WHAT HAPPENED: Day 2 of the 2020 US Open, a mixed-weather day of sun and clouds, featured several feel-good comeback storylines scattered around the grounds of the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.
Past Grand Slam champions Andy Murray and Kim Clijisters were on the schedule making long-awaited returns to the Grand Slam competition.
With much less fanfare, in the shadows of Arthur Ashe Stadium on Court 6, another comeback was taking place, one that had a triumphant ending for 29-year-old Russian Andrey Kuznetsov, who had been sidelined for most of the last three years with a hip injury.
In his first ATP Tour-level match since Moscow, in 2017, Kuznetsov toppled American Sam Querrey, in impressive fashion, 6-4, 7-6, 6-2.
The 6-foot-1 Kuznetsov moved smoothly around the court during the 1-hour-44-minute match, and it was hard to see any lingering effects from his injury. He cracked 47 winners, against just 22 errors. He pounded in 18 aces and faced break point just three times, never losing his serve against the veteran Querrey, who enjoyed his finest season in 2017, when he reached the Wimbledon semifinals and the US Open quarterfinals.
Taking the tiebreak, 8-6, was a pivotal moment in the match, and after two tightly played sets, it was all Kuznetsov in the final set.
WHAT IT MEANS: Kuznetsov was a highly touted junior, claiming the 2009 Wimbledon Junior crown and then climbing as high as world No. 39 in April 2016. But all that time he was battling chronic hip problems, on and off the court.
“It came from almost when I was born,” Kuznetsov said of his hip woes, in a recent article on ATPTour.com. “I basically had it all my life.
“I always had some pain when I playing but it was acceptable pain that I could play with,” said the Russian, who married wife Darya during his time off, and the couple welcomed their first child, Max, last December.
“At the end of 2017, it became a bit worse. I tried to play one tournament in 2018. I realized I could not because it was too painful.”
Now it is a different story, a happy ending for this comeback bid. “I don’t feel pain, almost nothing,” he said, in the ATPTour.com story.
MATCH POINT: Featuring a big serve and always looking to get to the net, it is a bit puzzling why Querrey has struggled here at his national championship. This was his third consecutive first-round exit since his run to the quarterfinals in 2017.
