US Open Day 10 Preview: Mother's Day In New York - UBITENNIS

US Open Day 10 Preview: Mother’s Day In New York

The inspiring stories abound, with three mothers in today’s women’s quarter-finals.

By Matthew Marolf
6 Min Read

Serena Williams suffered life-threatening complications after her child birth three years ago.  Victoria Azarenka endured a bitter custody battle which prevented her from travelling, derailing her career.  And Tsvetana Pironkova missed over three years of tennis due to injury, child birth, and the pandemic.  On the men’s side, the two men who have come closest to ending the reign of Federer, Nadal, and Djokovic have a golden opportunity to win their first Major with none of those men in their way.

Serena Williams (3) vs. Tsvetana Pironkova

This marks an astounding 53rd Major quarter-final for Serena, and her 17th at the US Open.  She’s is 10-0 in her last ten appearances at this stage of this event, having not lost since 2007.  It’s a fourth career Slam quarter-final for Pironkova, and it’s one of the most unlikely Grand Slam runs of all-time.  The 32-year-old hadn’t played any event at any level since Wimbledon 2017, and was just 8-11 in her career at the US Open.  Two of Tsvetana’s most notable victories came in consecutive years at Wimbledon against Serena’s sister, Venus.  But Pironkova is 0-4 lifetime against Serena.  And she will not be fully fresh when walking onto court today.  Pironkova had a strapping on her leg two days ago, while playing an exhausting, near-three-hour match against Alize Cornet.  While Serena also had a tough battle a round ago against Maria Sakkari, she is certainly more match-tough than Pironkova.  Williams should comfortably make it eleven straight wins in the US Open quarterfinals.

Daniil Medvedev (3) vs. Andrey Rublev (10)

This is a battle between the top two Russians, who grew up together in the tennis world.  The slightly elder and considerably more accomplished Russian has dominated their rivalry to date.  Medvedev has claimed all three of their meetings in straight sets.  And based on the way Daniil has crushed his opponents through four rounds, he’s a favorite to do so again today.  Medvedev is yet to drop a set, and has only been broken three times in four matches.  Daniil did not seem at all rattled by the sudden disappearance of Novak Djokovic from the draw during his thrashing of Frances Tiafoe on Monday.  Rublev has been similarly impressive, with the loss of only one set.  And he is one of the ATP’s winningest players this season, with titles in both Doha and Adelaide to start the year.  While it’s usually tricky to play a friend and fellow countryman, the guile, consistent power, superior movement, and tennis IQ of Medvedev should be enough to reach his second consecutive semifinal in New York.

Elise Mertens (16) vs. Victoria Azarenka

Before arriving in Flushing Meadows, Azarenka hadn’t won a match in a full year.  But she’s now on a nine-match winning streak, playing her best tennis since 2016.  Her opponent today is one of the WTA’s hottest players.  Mertens is 12-2 since the tour restart, with her only losses at the hands of Simona Halep and Naomi Osaka.  The 24-year-old Belgian is yet to drop a set during this fortnight.  While she can’t match Azarenka’s fire power off the ground, there are few weaknesses in her game.  Elise also has recent experience at this stage of a hard court Major, as this is her third quarterfinal in as many years.  This match will be their first career meeting.  Though many are clamoring for a Williams/Azarenka semifinal, which would rekindle one of the WTA’s best rivalries of the past decade, Mertens all-court skills and variety may prevent that from happening.

Dominic Thiem (2) vs. Alex de Minaur (21)

It’s the Australian Open finalist against the Australian No.1.  Considering Thiem’s deep return position, and de Minaur’s speed around the court, we’re bound to see some thrilling rallies.  Thiem is a three-time Major finalist, though he’s never advanced farther than this round in New York.  Two years ago, he lost an epic, heartbreaking quarter-final to Rafael Nadal, a match that lasted over five hours.  This is the maiden Slam quarter-final of de Minaur’s career.  I’m curious to see which player feels more pressure: Alex in the biggest match of his life, or Dominic knowing “The Big Three” are not in his way.  Thiem leads their head-to-head 2-0, with one of those encounters taking place at this event three years ago.  De Minaur has proven what a fierce competitor he is, and he certainly will not go away easily.  But the offense and experience of Thiem make him the favorite to reach his sixth Major semifinal.

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