Wednesday was a great day to be Usue Maitane Arconada. The American, coming into this year’s qualifying rounds with a WTA ranking of No. 837, pulled off an impressive upset to knock out the No. 10 qualiying seed, Rebecca Sramkova, 6-3, 6-4.
Arconada, 25, leapt into the junior Top 5 early in her career, struggled to re-harness that momentum at this level, and took an extended break from the sport. From February of 2022 to TK of this year, Arconada played just one tournament.
After a tough slip from her career-high WTA ranking of No. 130 in 2020, this upset marked a step down the right path for her in Flushing, not to mention a step towards the main draw.
The victory over the strong Slovakian, who was ranked as high as No. 89 in the world in May, was emphasized by Sramkova’s momentum coming into this year’s US Open—she recently gained some tour attention with a run from the qualifiers to the quarterfinals at Rome in May, and most recently played in the main draw at both Roland Garros and Wimbledon.
She was still no match for Arconada, who took her down in straight sets despite more than 700 spots between them in the world rankings.
After a back-and-forth first set, Sramkova looked for a comeback with a strong 4-1 lead deep into the second set–but Arconada quickly took back the reins and broke Sramkova twice, not giving up another game until she arrived at her final destination: victory.
Arconada now awaits Solana Sierra in the final round of qualifiers to determine if she will step back into a Slam’s main draw for just the second time in her career.
A similar situation played out on the men’s side of the draw, by numbers only. No. 10 men’s qualifying seed, young Frenchman Luca Van Assche, also exited the competition.
The 20 year-old fell to 34-year old Radu Albot in three sets despite bageling him in the second set, and winning nine straight games. Albot won six of the last seven played in a 6-2, 0-6, 6-4 win.
Other highlights from a packed Day 3 of qualifying included:
- The top is toppling. Thiago Agustin Tirante, the No. 1 seed in men's qualifying, fell 7-5, 6-4 to experienced fellow Argentinian countryman Diego Schwartzman. Schwartzman, a former Top 10 player who has made it to the quarterfinals of the US Open twice (2017 and 2019) now looks to nab his place in the main draw in his final US Open.
- Australian Talia Gibson pulled out a scrappy win over American Hanna Chang on Court 12 after a strenuous three sets. The two traded equal tie-break blows until Gibson pulled ahead to take the match at 6-3, 1-6, 7-6(12). Chang lost in heartbreaking fashion: After having a match point in the final-set tiebreak, she double-faulted on her final serve to give Gibson the long-fought match.
- The Australian women didn’t stop there. Aussie Destanee Aiava knocked out Japanese player Mai Hontama, seeded No. 4 in qualifiers, in a 6-3, 6-4 upset. Aiva broke Hontama three times (with Hontama breaking her twice) in the first set alone, foreshadowing quite a battle for the second set. Aiva held on to her momentum in a tight final two games that both extended past deuce.
- Vilius Gaubas, the 20-year-old Lithuanian dashed the hopes of another former Top 10 player in his final US Open, Richard Gasquet, winning 6-2, 6-4, in Stadium 17. Gaubus leapt out to a 4-0 lead in the first set and then 4-2 in the second set, putting on display a strong breaking ability that Gasquet, a former US Open semifinalist, could never quite match.
- The women at the top kept things moving. Top seed Kamilla Rakhimova cruised to a 6-3, 6-0 victory over Maria Timofeeva in 72 minutes, while second-seeded Aliaksandra Sasnovich kept pace right below her as picked off Heather Watson, 6-1, 6-4.
The third and final round of the 2024 US Open Qualifying Tournament is Thursday, with 16 main draw positions ready to be awarded to the day's winners. The players in action tomorrow for the coveted spots include Gaubus and Schwartzman, as the young Lithuanian seeks to send a second straight former Top 10 player into retirement; former US Open boys' singles champion Joao Fonseca; and 15-year-old American wild card Julieta Pareja, who looks to qualifying for a Grand Slam in just her sixh-ever professional event. Pareja backed up her opening win against Kayla Day with a 7-6(4), 1-6, 6-4 win over Italian Lucrezia Stefanini.
