Cirstea now leads 5-0 and perhaps the problem with Bencic is that she lacks a serious weapon. Cirstea, on the other hand, is a stroke-maker so, when she’s on, she’s on
“Patrick McEnroe says the US Open serving record is 152 mph by Roddick,” advises Olga. “Eubanks said he will let Ben know so he can try to break it! As you know, he is Ben’s doubles partner and a new commie for ESPN.”
I bet he’s great at it too – he was doing it for the Tennis Channel before his career caught fire.
Up 40-15, Paul serves, comes in, and sticks his volley away! From 1-4 down, he’s won five games in a row, and now trails Shelton by two sets to one. Meantime, Cirstea breaks again, and contrary to my earlier musing it appears that in fact, Bencic has not yet got the majors sorted.
Now then! Paul breaks Shelton – he must’ve read what I said about him earlier – and at 5-4 will serve for the third set and a 2-1 deficit.
Two-thirds of the court are in shade, which can’t be easy for the players – yes, and won’t someone please think of the livebloggers – as Cirstea consolidates for 3-0.
You’ll be delighted to know I’ve found Cirstea v Bencic, on my phone, just in time to miss the former breaking for 2-0. I didn’t see her match with Rybakina, but that win – probably the biggest of her career – tells us she’s in tremendous nick, and is mentally strong enough to win a third-set decider against one of the best players around.
Hold tight Tommy Paul! With me still searching for Cirstea v Bencic, he breaks back in the third, now trailing 2-0 and 3-4.
Cirstea and Bencic are away, the former holding for 1-0 as I’m trying to find coverage; for some reason Sky have jamie Murray in the doubles on the channel not showing Paul v Shelton.
Oh wow. Shelton serves two aces, two of them at 149mph, the fastest of the competition I think, holds to love and is two gamea away from a storming win! Add to that Dominic Stricker’s progress – he’s playing later – and the new generation are coming.
I am high on Ben Shelton. A big forehand gets him to the net whereupon he finds two fine volleys, one off either flank, to make 15-30 on the Paul serve. Then Paul goes long, misses his first serve, and can Shelton go up two sets and a break? Yes he can! Paul completes his double and now trails 4-6 3-6 1-4!
Shelton and Paul are 1-1 in the third, Shelton having won the first two, and I don’t doubt his ability to see this out; I don’t think Paul has the weapons to win three sets on the spin, so he’s probably got to hope for a choke.
Next on Armstrong: Sorana Cirstea [30] v Belinda Bencic [15].
Wang gave a decent account of herself there but Muchova was just a bit too good. She tells us that it was hot out there and she’s glad the match was over. She’d never played Wang before and it was a tough match, but she thinks she came back well in the third, returning to her game with lots of slices. She’s been doing a bit of yoga in Central Park, apparently, and also plays guitar – she has interests other than tennis – and if she were ti play one song now, when phshed, says it’d be “some AC/DC song, probably Highway to Hell!”
Muchova gets there in the end, her class and temperament eventually telling. She will play Sorana Cirstea or Belinda Bencic next.
A service winner down the middle gives Muchova 40-15 and match point…
Has Wang gone? At 0-30 she comes in off a poor approach, Muchova passes her down the line, and though she finds an ace next up, a tremendous lob effectively finishes the match. Muchova leads 5-1 in the third and will now serve for the match, while Shelton holds for a 6-4 6-3 advantage over Paul!
Muchova breaks Wang as we supposed she eventually would and leads 3-1 ; can she consolidate? Yes she can, holding to 15, and Wang is in a lot trouble. Meantime, Shelton now leads Paul by a set and a break at 6-4 4-3 and, with Tiafoe or Hijikata next, has a chance of doing something properly interesting.
Shelton hollers at his box, holding for 3-3, and Paul doesn’t look to have enough to really trouble him if he can stay solid. Cash/Patten, though, have lost a third-set breaker 10-6 to Bopanna/Ebden so, after a promising run, are going home.
A brilliant forehand winner perhaps incites Muchova to send down a double meaning she goes from 40-15 to deuce. But she hangs on and leads 2-1 in the third.
Back on Ashe, we’re still on serve in the second, Shelton trailing 3-2 having taken the first off Paul.I’d always thought paul would be one of those players who made a ton of money without ever doing anything of note in a major, but he made the last four in Australia and at 26 will still hope he’s getting better.
Muchova and Wang take a break, then return and the former holds for 1-0 in the third. Wang then begins her service-game with a double before a poor shot down the line allows Muchova to extend a go-go Gadget arm and divert a winner into the vacated space for 0-30. Wang, though, hangs tough to make advantage, then Muchova plays a terrific point only to dump her forehand volley at the end of it. 1-1 in the third, and this could go either way.
Cash/Patten, by the way, are 4-4 with Bopanna/Ebden in their decider, and Paul has just whammed a forehand for break point at 4-6 1-0 … quickly extinguished by Shelton, who closes out nicely and, with his vest wet and clinging to him, looks like some kind of superhero.
I’m really surprised by how Muchova played in that second set. I know we see it a lot – a player thinks they’ve broken the back of the match and relaxes – but I didn’t think we’d see it from her at this stage of this competition.
A lovely swing-volley from Wang gives her advantage but Muchova panels a backhand winner down the line to stay in the set. But then she nets a forehand, Wang sends down a tame, nervous second serve … and Muchova can’t respond! At 6-3 5-7, we’ve got ourselves a decider!
Shelton holds for 6-4 but Muchova comes back from 40-0 to deuce, and Wang needs to compose herself.
Meanwhile, Shelton breaks Paul and he too will now serve for a set, 5-4 up on Paul having lost the first three games and been a point away from a 0-4 deficit. He’s absolutely loving it out there.
A double gives Wang a sniff of a break at deuce, and a forehand hit long means she’s got advantage … then Muchova tries a drop that isn’t on, a rare error in shot-selection, so Wang runs in, flips past her, and will now serve for a decider at 3-6 6-5!
Serving to stay in the match, Wang finds herself 0-30 down, but four straight points, the last of them an ace, make 5-5. This is more like a normal set now, players refraining from being broken and everything.
Email! “Interesting linguistic observation on Muchova,” says James W. '“‘Mucha’ means ‘fly’ in all Slavonic languages, so Muchova means ‘of the fly’. Here’s a radical prediction: Djokovich doesn’t reach the final. Carlos Escape From (etc and so forth) - does.”
Wang’s forehand gets her into trouble again, she’s broken, and Paul wastes two break points – also with loose forehands. But then a careless putaway hands him advantage – and Shelton stretches for another volley … and this time he makes it. He plays like a classic youngster – and how miserable it is to legitimately call someone that – mixing great shots with nonsense ones. He closes out for 3-3; Muchova finds a love hold from somewhere for 6-3 5-4; and Cash/Patten take a second-set breaker so will now play a decider against Bopanna/Ebden.
Wang’s struggling on forehand and Muchova on back, but when the latter has to save a point for the double-break, it’s there for her down the line. They go to deuce and she holds for 6-3 3-4 while, on Ashe, Shelton is into the match, making break-back point and securing the game when a double arrives; he trails 2-3. In his box, his dad likes what he’s seeing.
Goodness me, Wang breaks Muchova again, while Paul consolidates and misses a lob for a 4-0 … then when Muchova nets a backhand, Wang has a consolidation of her own! Meantime in the doubles, they’re just starting a second-set breaker.
Paul breaks Shelton immediately for 2-0 and Wang will be getting sick of this, again allowing Muchova to break her back.
Paul holds in the first game of the match, while Wang breaks Muchova again for 3-6 2-1; can she finally consolidate? In the doubles, meanwhile, Bopanna and Ebden have broken Cash and Patten back in set two so now lead 6-4 4-4.
Ben Shelton is only 20 but he made the last eight in Australia and to get to here has beaten Cachin, Thiem and Karatsev, a pretty decent effort. He’s also a lefty, which won’t do him any harm, and you might recall his dad, Bryan, who was also a player. He and Paul are under way on Ashe.
With Wang at the net, Muchova makes a backhand well out of court, guiding a winner into the space that gives her break-back point … which she quickly converts. Wang just can’t play better than her for long enough to get anywhere and trails 3-6 1-1.
And now they are, while Muchova and Wang are still at deuce … but then Wang nails a return, backs it up with a booming backhand, and after a long game, she has the break to trail 3-6 1-0.
On Ashe, Paul and Shelton will soon be with us.
At 6-40 0-0, Muchova serve-volleys at 40-30, only to net the latter portion. Then at deuce, Wang makes advantage but a big serve gets Muchova out of trouble, then Wang forces another opportunity and swats wide. So round we go while, on the doubles, Cash and Patten have broken in set two, having lost the first.
At 30-40, Wang finds a first serve and Muchova can’t return, but a forehand gives her advantage and this time she secures the set, pounding on a short ball to crack a backhand winner for 6-3. Ultimately, there’s a large class difference in the matchup, and that’s what we’re seeing on the court.
With Muchova serving for the set, Wang makes 30-all, a double gives 30-40 … and Wang steps in on a second serve, smiting another backhand to retrieve one of her breaks for 3-5. Her problem is what to do in all other situations.
A terrific switch of attack from Muchova, cross on the forehand with Wang expecting line, gives her two break points … and she only needs one, a forehand winner giving her her third break on the spin and a 5-2 lead.
Meantime in the doubles, Cash and Patten have been broken and now trail 3-5.
Muchova makes 40-0 but two tame points and Wang has a sniff at 40-30, al the more so facing a second serve … which completes a deuce-inducing double. From there, though, an overhead from a way back, superbly despatched, is followed by a backhand winner cross-court right onto the line and that’s 4-2.
Wang can’t be getting involved in net exchanges with a player with hands like Muchova, but she does and finds herself 15-30 down; a forehand winner clobbered down the line follows. And Wang can’t withstand the pressure, netting tamely on break point to trail 3-2. I daresay Muchova takes greater care with her consolidation attempt this time.
Muchova can’t outhit everyone – it’s part of what made her performance against Saba so good, though no one can turn it up like she can – but she’s outhitting Wang, which spells big trouble. But as I type, Wang punishes a second serve with a big forehand for 15-30. Muchova responds with a gorgeously-disguised backhand drop but a double hands over break-back point … quickly retrieved by a return which flies long. Muchova, though, can’t close out through deuce, finding herself facing advantage, and when Wang’s offered a second serve out to her favoured backhand, she powers a return cross-court that’s too hot and the riposte dumps into the net. It’s 2-2.
I am now doublesed. It’s 2-2.
As I’m trying to get the doubles on, Muchova breaks Wang for 2-1, and she looks in nick. I really enjoy her clever use of spins and angles – more than Wang, I think.
Muchova and Wang are away, likewise Cash/Patten and Bopanna/Ebden.
I didn’t mention this is the preamble, but regular readers of this blog will be familiar with Calv Betton, the coach who supplies us with insight and analysis. Well his charge, Henry Patten, along with his partner, Julian Cash, is playing in the last 16 of the men’s doubles first up today. Their opponents, Rohan Bopanna and Matthew Ebden, are seeded six, but let’s hope they get a talking-to.
Here come Muchova and Wang!
Also going on:
Yo dudes! And welcome to the US Open 2023 – day seven! It’s getting real isn’t it? Ooooh yeah!
We begin today with one of this blog’s favourites, Karolína Muchová, whose brilliant performance in beating Aryna Sabalenka at Roland-Garros suggested a player ready to take the next step. She did lose in the final, but there’s no shame in being bested by Iga Swiatek never mind on clay, and it’s hard to see her not finding a way past the unseeded Wang Xiyu.
Ashe, meanwhile, gets going with Tommy Paul, the number 14 seed, against Ben Shelton, a serious young talent. But it’s our second match that really catches the eye, Caroline Wozniacki returning from retirement with every bit of the moxie that defined her first act … to face Coco Gauff, the prodigy-veteran now improving at an invigorating pace.
And there’s plenty else besides! After Muchová v Wang we’ve got Sorana Cirstea, conquerer of Elena Rybakina, against Belinda Bencic, the Olympic champ who might finally be getting the hang of Grand Slam progression. Then, following that, Francis Tiafoe – another starting to control his talent – meets Rinky Hijikata, the unseeded young Aussie – before the day sesh rounds out with the brilliant Swiss teenager, Dominic Stricker, who qualified then despatched Stefanos Tsitsipas, taking on the number nine seed, Taylor Fritz. Let’s go, dudes!
US Open 2023: Gauff and Tiafoe in action, Muchova wins on day seven – live - The Guardian
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