NEW YORK (AP) — Frances Tiafoe is getting the revenge he wants: a second chance against Ben Shelton at the U.S. Open.
However, Barbora Krejcikova will not win a second Grand Slam title in a row.
The Wimbledon winner was eliminated in the second round of the US Open on Wednesday, losing to Elena-Gabriela Ruse 6:4, 7:5.
No. 8 seed Krejcikova won her second Grand Slam singles title this summer but did not play a single match after the Paris Olympics, and last week she admitted she did not know what level she was playing at.
It turned out it wasn’t good enough.
“I mean, Win Wimbledon is unbelievable. It’s a great, great, great result, I’m very proud of it and how I managed to handle everything there,” said Krejcikova, who hadn’t played a hard court tournament since February.
“I think I played pretty well, definitely better than in the first game. I think my game improved, but it just wasn’t enough.”
No woman has won Wimbledon and the US Open in the same year since Serena Williams in 2012.
Tiafoe had short work of the tournament on the most humid day so far, with temperatures in New York exceeding 32 degrees Celsius. The 20th seed won the first two sets before his opponent Alexander Shevchenko retired after the first game of the third set, one of two men’s matches in which a player retired.
Shelton, the number 13 seed, later defeated Roberto Bautista Agut 6-3, 6-4, 6-4. He defeated Tiafoe in the quarterfinals last yearand thus prevented Tiafoe from reaching the semifinals of the US Open for the second time in a row.
“He’s obviously very similar to me in terms of his enthusiasm and energy on the court,” Tiafoe said. “He has a great game, great shots, great serves and really gets the crowd going.”
Ruse, a 26-year-old Romanian, reached the third round of a Grand Slam for the first time and will play against 26th seed Paula Badosa, who eliminated American Taylor Townsend 6-3, 7-5.
Badosa continued her resurgence in a strong summer by reaching the third round of the US Open for the first time.
“I know it’s only a third round, but I was really looking forward to doing this in New York,” said Badosa, a New York-born Spaniard.
Jiri Lehecka ignored the heat and made the biggest comeback of his career, rallying to defeat Mitchell Krueger 6-7 (5), 0-6, 6-4, 6-4, 7-5 in a match that lasted just under four hours. Lehecka, the No. 32 seed, not only recovered from a two-set deficit for the first time in his career, but was down 0-3 in the third set against the American qualifier.
“I fought hard to get back into the match and then the fourth and fifth sets were just a battle and we both fought for every point,” said Lehecka.
He will face number 6 seed Andrey Rublev, who also came back from a two-set deficit to defeat Arthur Rinderknech 4:6, 5:7, 6:1, 6:2, 6:2.
Former US Open finalists Aryna Sabalenka and Alexander Zverev both won their matches in straight sets, while Olympic gold medalist Zheng Qinwen, the No. 7 seed, edged past Erika Andreeva in three sets.
In another women’s third-round match, No. 14 seed Madison Keys will face No. 33 seed Elise Mertens. Keys defeated Maya Joint 6-4, 6-0, while Mertens eliminated Ajla Tomljanovic 6-3, 6-2.
On Wednesday evening, defending champions Coco Gauff and Novak Djokovic were on the schedule.
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AP Tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis
