Alizé Cornet knocked out the American Sofia Kenin, seeded 2, to advance to the round of 16 at Flushing Meadows. Kenin, 4th in the world, suffered the law of the French in two rounds (6-1, 7-6). The Niçoise (60th in the world) thus won her first victory against a Top 5 player in two years. Appeared much more in legs than her opponent, whose return to competition was after five months of hiatus from the season due to the coronavirus, she was nevertheless scared in the second set. Leading 5-2, she saw the winner of the last Australian Open recover and push her to the decisive game, which she was finally able to conclude on her fourth match point (9 points to 7).
“I kinda let things go a bit, and I was really tense at that point. I thought I could never win this round like I did. My God, in the tie-break, I prayed with all my strength on each shot, ”said Cornet. She will play her round of 16 either against another Frenchwoman, Caroline Garcia, who beat the American Sloane Stephens (6-3, 7-6), or against Viktoria Azarenka. Belarus, winner of the tournament in 2013, eliminated Croatian Donna Vekic in straight sets as well (6-2, 6-3). Karolina Pliskova, world number 3, lost (7-5, 6-4) to Russian Veronika Kudermetova, 41st world, who said she tried "not to think about the score, but rather to beat on every ball ”. So with success.
Tsitsipas solid
Among the men, no upheaval occurred, on the eve of the entry into the running of the favorites including Novak Djokovic who gave up playing doubles this Sunday, suffering slightly from the neck. The Serbian will start his tournament against Lithuanian Ricardas Berankis, who fell to American Tommy Paul on Saturday. Stefanos Tsitsipas qualified for the round of 16 at the expense of South African Kevin Anderson (6-1, 6-3). The Greek spent only 69 minutes on the court, not having to work until the 5th game of the second set, when he had to erase three break points. “This game was crucial. To keep it that way while maintaining my concentration, it was a very good thing on my part, ”welcomed the Greek, 6th in the world, who will then cross the racket of the American John Isner or the Australian John Millman. .
Another player to advance to the round of 16, the Belgian David Goffin got the best of the Croatian Borna Coric (7-6 (8/6), 6-4). Grigor Dimitrov passed his first round without a hitch, winner of Ugo Humbert (6-3, 6-4). The Bulgarian, 19th in the world, who was one of the players to have contracted the coronavirus on the sidelines of the Adria Tour organized by Novak Djokovic two months ago, will challenge the Hungarian Marton Fucsovics in the second round. On Monday, in addition to Djokovic, his announced rival Austrian Dominic Thiem (seed) will make his debut against Serbian Filip Krajinovic, as will the Russian Daniil Medvedev (N.3), defending champion, against American Marcos Giron , while the German Alexander Zverev (N.5) will face the ghost Andy Murray.
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