Anastasija Sevastova has continued her fairytale run in New York by dismissing 16th seed Johanna Konta 6-4, 7-5, in the fourth round of the US Open.
Playing in Flushing Meadows for the first time since 2011 after a two-year retirement, the Latvian player produced glimmers of her best and worst tennis to reach her maiden grand slam quarter-final. Starting the match with a flawless display, Sevastova raced to a 3-0 lead before Konta worked her way back into the set with her help of some errors from her opponent. In what was a roller coaster opener, the underdog broke two consecutive times to clinch the set with the help of a deep return towards the baseline.
The cat and mouse chase between the two continued into the second set. Twice Sevastova had a commanding lead before Konta triumphantly battled her way back into the match. Breaking for 5-4, the world No.48 has her first match point, but failed to convert as she dropped her serve once again. Despite the lacklustre moments, it was only a matter of time before Sevastova’s New York dream came true.
“I knew I always had a chance that I could always break her (Konta) and I just kept fighting.” She said about her win.
Sevastova’s run to the last eight at Flushing Meadows comes just three years after she retired from the sport due to illness and injury problems. She will play either Caroline Wozniacki or Madison Keys in the Quarter-finals, becoming the first Latvian woman to reach the last eight of a major since 1994.
“There were hard moments in 2013, I was injured a lot. It was tough to play, not fun and kind of depressive, but now I’m back.” A smiling Sevastova said.
Regardless of the outcome of her next match, Sevastova is projected to rise to new ranking high.
Another player to continue their US Open love affair was 2015 runner-up Roberta Vinci. The Italian was highly emotional during her fourth round match and ended up in tears after defeating Ukraine’s Lesia Tsurenko 7-6(5), 6-4.
“I was crying because it was a great match today.” Vinci explained.
“I was tired and I’ve got some physical problems. I fought a lot and the important thing was to win.”
Vinci didn’t go into details about her physical issues, however, she was recently troubled by a foot injury during the New Haven open. She will play either Angelique Kerber or Petra Kvitova in the Quarter-finals.
