Trying to serve out the biggest victory of her career, 18-year-old Ana Konjuh was startled — right along with everyone else under the roof in Arthur Ashe Stadium — by a piercing noise coming from the US Open arena’s sound system during a ball toss.
The Croatian recoiled, let the ball drop and put her left hand to her chest. Once Konjuh realized nothing bad was going on, she smiled, then resumed playing, just as calm and collected as ever, and finished a 6-4, 6-4 upset of fourth seed Agnieszka Radwanska on Monday to reach her first Grand Slam quarter-final.
“I just said to myself: ‘Stay in the game. Don’t rush,’” Konjuh said.
Photo: AFP
Yes, she acknowledged later, she was scared for a moment by the odd sound, but nothing really threw her off her game on this night. Not the stakes or the setting — playing with the roof closed atop the largest tennis stadium she had ever set foot in, and definitely not Radwanska, the 2012 Wimbledon runner-up.
“I’m real excited about my performance tonight. My serve was pretty good tonight,” Konjuh said. “I don’t think she had any answers.”
Konjuh, who is ranked only 92nd, compiled a 38-9 edge in winners against Radwanska, who is 27.
Radwanska is now 0-5 in fourth-round matches at the US Open, the only Grand Slam event where she has not been to the quarter-finals at least once.
“I just couldn’t do any more, I guess, today,” Radwanska said. “I was really trying. I was just too slow today.”
This year at the All England Lawn Tennis Club, Konjuh held three match points against Radwanska, but lost their second-round match 9-7 in the third set after accidentally stepping on a tennis ball and injuring her right ankle during a point at 7-7.
Konjuh next faces 10th seed Karolina Pliskova, who eliminated Venus Williams 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7/3).
At 36, Williams would have been the oldest woman to reach the quarter-finals at any major since Martina Navratilova was 37 at Wimbledon in 1994.
Williams made it that far at Flushing Meadows a year ago, before losing to her younger sister Serena. This time, they had been on course for a family showdown in the semi-finals — Serena beat Yaroslava Shvedova 6-2, 6-3 in the fourth round for her 308th Grand Slam match victory, breaking a tie with Roger Federer for most in the Open era.
Pliskova managed, just barely, to make it to her first Grand Slam quarter-final at 24.
Until this tournament, she never had been past the third round in 17 appearances at majors.
“To be honest, it was really difficult,” Pliskova said.
Also reaching the quarter-finals with a victory on Monday was 2014 French Open runner-up Simona Halep, who eliminated 11th seed Carla Suarez Navarro 6-2, 7-5.
Now it is Halep’s turn to try to deal with the serve of Serena Williams, who reached a tournament-best 203kph, delivered 11 aces and won 28 of 30 first-serve points against Shvedova.
In the men’s singles, 2009 champion Juan Martin del Potro became the lowest-ranked man in the US Open quarter-finals in 25 years, advancing when eighth seed Dominic Thiem stopped in the second set because of an injured right knee.
Del Potro missed two-and-a-half years’ worth of major tournaments because of a trio of operations on his left wrist, so he is ranked only 142nd. Jimmy Connors was 174th when he made a stirring run to the semi-finals in New York at 39 in 1991.
The 2012 title winner at Flushing Meadows, Andy Murray, eased into the quarter-finals for the 22nd time in his past 23 majors, beating 22nd seed Grigor Dimitrov 6-1, 6-2, 6-2.
Murray next faces 2014 runner-up Kei Nishikori, who advanced by beating 21st seed Ivo Karlovic 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (7/4).
Murray defeated Nishikori in the semi-finals of the Rio de Janeiro Olympics last month en route to an unprecedented second consecutive singles gold medal.
US track and field athletes have about four dozen pieces to choose from when assembling their uniforms at the Olympics. The one grabbing the most attention is a high-cut leotard that barely covers the bikini line and has triggered debate between those who think it is sexist and others who say they do not need the Internet to make sure they have good uniforms. Among those critical or laughing at the uniforms included Paralympian Femita Ayanbeku, sprinter Britton Wilson and even athletes from other countries such as Britain’s Abigail Irozuru, who wrote on social media: “Was ANY female athlete consulted in
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
Former US Masters champion Zach Johnson was left embarrassed after a foul-mouthed response to ironic cheers from spectators after a triple bogey at Augusta National on Friday. Johnson, the 2007 Masters winner, missed the cut after his three-over-par round of 75 left him on seven-over 151 for 36 holes, his six on the par-three 12th playing a big role in his downfall. Television footage showed Johnson reacting to sarcastic cheers and applause when he tapped in for the triple bogey by yelling: “Oh fuck off.” Such a response would be considered bad form in any golf tournament, but is particularly out of keeping
Taiwan’s Lee Jhe-huei and Yang Po-hsuan on Saturday won the men’s doubles bronze medal at the Badminton Asia Championships in Ningbo, China, after they were bested by the hosts in their semi-final. The Taiwanese shuttlers lost to China’s Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang, who advanced to yesterday’s final against Malaysia’s Goh Sze Fei and Nur Izzudin. The Chinese pair outplayed Lee and Yang in straight games. Although the Taiwanese got off to a slow start in the first game, they eventually tied it 14-14, before Liang and Wang went on to blow past them to win 21-17. In the second game, Lee and