Working Labor Day weekend? They wish.
After six days of the 2020 US Open, 224 men’s and women’s singles players have been eliminated. The final 32 now play to become the best two. USOpen.org previews Day 7.
1. Djokovic issues challenge to the rest of the field
As if his unbeaten record in 2020 didn’t speak loud enough, world No. 1 Novak Djokovic took time to clarify how he’s feeling heading into the second week of the US Open.
“I don't feel tired. I don't feel like energy or recovery is going to be an issue or is an issue for me. In contrary, I actually feel very fit. I love playing best-of-five. I like my chances best-of-five on the center court of US Open against anybody in the world,” Djokovic said.
In other words, bring it on. The three-time US Open champion will try to win his 30th consecutive match, when he faces Spain’s Pablo Carreno Busta in the fourth round. Djokovic has won 26 matches to start 2020, and 29 dating back to last year’s Davis Cup Finals in Madrid.
Carreno Busta’s best results have come on hard courts, including three of his four ATP titles and his deepest run at a major, a semifinal at the 2017 US Open.
But he’s 0-3 against Djokovic, a head-to-head that includes their hard-court meeting last year in Cincinnati.
2. Osaka feeling the love
The words, like the occasional texts from Billie Jean King, always surprise fourth seed Naomi Osaka.
After every match, Osaka wears the mask of a Black person who has been killed in the U.S. To date, she has honored the lives of Breonna Taylor, Elijah McClain and Ahmaud Arbery.
But when people acknowledge the work she’s doing, Osaka is taken aback.
“It always takes me by surprise because I don't know if I feel like I'm doing anything. But people say, ‘Thank you,’ and, ‘I'm proud of you,’ and for me that's something that's really touching to my heart,” she said.
On the court, for a place in the quarterfinals, Osaka faces 14th seed Anett Kontaveit of Estonia, whom she’s beaten all four times they’ve played.
3. Unseeded trio looks to spoil more Labor Day weekend plans
This may well be the stars’ Slam to lose, but let’s hear it for the trio of unseeded singles players trying to book final-eight places on Sunday.
South Carolina’s Shelby Rogers, one of four American women still alive in the singles draw, meets sixth seed Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic. Rogers beat Kvitova en route to her other major quarterfinal, at 2016 Roland Garros.
Aussie Jordan Thompson will try to end Croatian Borna Coric’s improbable US Open run (more on that below). The 26-year-old Sydney native had never reached a third round at a major before this week, but could become the first Aussie man to reach the quarterfinals in Queens since Roger Federer’s 2018 conqueror, John Millman.
If your Sunday plans have time for only one unlikely story, root for Spain’s Alejandro Davidovich Fokina. The 21-year-old is ranked No. 99 and was 5-14 before the US Open. He faces fifth seed Alexander Zverev of Germany, who’s trying to book his first trip to the quarterfinals in Flushing Meadows.
4. Coric, Martic fly the Croatian flag
With about four million people, Croatia has only .05 percent of the world’s population. But at the US Open, the small southeastern European country boasts about six percent (2/32) of the singles players still remaining in the Round of 16.
Home to major singles champions Iva Majoli, Goran Ivanisevic and Marin Cilic, Croatia has long overachieved in tennis. The 27th-seeded Coric followed the trend on Friday night against fourth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece.
Coric saved six match points, including three consecutively, when Tsitsipas served at 7-6, 4-6, 6-4, 5-4, 40/0.
“Hard work, commitment and a bit of luck” was how Coric summed up the epic encounter. He’ll want to bring all three attributes with him against Thompson, as Coric tries to reach his first major quarterfinal (0-2 in fourth-round matches).
On the women’s side, Croatia’s Petra Martic is also in no hurry to go back to the Adriatic coast. The eighth seed will try to beat 23rd seed Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan and reach her second major quarterfinal.
Prepare yourself for a few breaks of serve: Putintseva has broken a field-leading 19 times, while Martic is in a three-way tie for second with 15 breaks.
5. Defending champions out in doubles draws
The doubles draws are officially wide open. Both top-seeded duos are no longer in the fields, further creating chasms in the draws.
On the women’s side, only three seeded teams remain: second seeds Elise Mertens of Belgium and Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus; third seeds Nicole Melichar of the U.S. and Yifan Xu of China; and fourth seeds Kveta Peschke of the Czech Republic and Demi Schuurs of the Netherlands.
On the men’s side, only two seeded teams are left: third seeds Rajeev Ram of the U.S. and Joe Salisbury of Great Britain, and eighth seeds Wesley Koolhof of the Netherlands and Nikola Mektic of Croatia.
Numbers next to your name don’t mean everything, though. On the women’s side, the unseeded duo of American Hayley Carter and Brazilian Luisa Stefani could be poised for a surprise final run after finding a way through two three-setters.
Wreaking havoc on the men’s side are 2017 US Open champions Jean-Julien Rojer of the Netherlands and Romanian Horia Tecau, who are eyeing their second Queens crown after upsetting top seeds and defending champions Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah of Colombia.
