Shock and awe in R3 of the US Open
The capital-U upsets have officially arrived. Let's break it down.
The Replay
The capital-U upsets have officially arrived in the third round of the US Open. In the words of one Esther Perel, where should we begin?
Warning: This issue is particularly North America-focused. Please do not accuse me of patriotism (blech)—it’s just how the dice rolled.
A shock exit for Shelton
Let’s start with one of the biggest bummers: Ben Shelton (6) was forced to retire at the end of the fourth set of his match against unc Adrian Mannarino (77) after injuring his left shoulder mid-match. Shelton has been on a tear (sorry, we need more words), and everyone expected him to go deep here, as he often does at slams, but in a moment slightly reminiscent of Dimitrov at Wimbledon (albeit a little less devastating given the context and scoreline), he instead walked off the court in tears.
“For him to pull the plug you know it has to be a really serious injury—or at least on the court he was really feeling something—because he’s an amazing competitor, he’s going to compete through pretty much anything,” said his compatriot Taylor Fritz (4) in a press conference after his own win against the tricky Jerome Kym (175—you’re going to want to remember that name, btw).
In Shelton’s own subdued presser, he said he didn’t go into the match with an injury and couldn’t pinpoint what caused it. Just before the pain started, though, he dove for a shot and landed awkwardly, jamming what seemed like both of his arms as he fell. But Shelton could only confirm that the pain level was really high. “I’ve never retired before and I’m not [someone] who would retire if I could continue,” he added. Given that it took his father and coach Bryan Shelton to encourage him to retire (god bless him) instead of wincing through every shot, we believe it.
Foe falls early
In more sad news for American tennis fans, Frances Tiafoe (17) also went out earlier than normal here after he lost in straight sets to the up-and-down German qualifier Jan-Lennard Struff (144). The man who thrives at the US Open and made it to the semifinals last year will see his ranking drop to 29 as a result.
Struff played well, but Tiafoe seemed low-energy throughout the match and struggled to come up with answers. It made me wonder if his lingering back injury (his back was KT taped to the gills) was a contributing factor, but he was quick to shut that down in his post-match press conference. “I don’t think anybody’s 100% at this point [in the season], so [the tape] was just precautionary, but I had no issues with it today, I don’t want to use that [as an excuse],” he said.
Instead, he blamed himself for playing too passively, struggling on defense, and allowing Struff to dictate the match from his racket. He also said the Grandstand court, where he had only practiced once briefly about a week prior, felt a lot faster than the rest.
“It’s hard to swallow how I played today, and being out of the US Open this early,” said Tiafoe, following it up with a heartbreaking line that made me think of this piece I wrote earlier this summer about the seeds struggling mentally. “I don’t know how to recover from this, to be honest with you, I haven’t been this down in a long, long time.”
Taylor transcends
It wasn’t all bad news for our otherwise-cursed country, though! The two Taylors (Fritz and Townsend) delivered third-round wins, with Townsend’s a genuine upset. The Ostapenko drama must’ve lit a fire in her, because she beat the fifth seed and rising star Mirra Andreeva (5) in two sets, looking especially dominant in the second. For context, Townsend is ranked 139 in singles.
Despite the ugly circumstances that sparked it, it’s been great to see Townsend getting widespread recognition by the media and fans (she gained more than 100k followers on Instagram in the span of like 24 hours). This is a player who, despite being the world No. 1 in doubles, had to design her own tenniswear line because no brands would sponsor her. Something tells me more opportunities will open up for her now, but given that her clothing is better than most of what the established brands are putting out these days, she certainly doesn’t need them.
Tennis loves a wunderkind, but I’m personally more interested in the players who find their stride (or finally get their due, depending on how you look at it) later in life. At 29 years old (geriatric!), it’s a pleasure to see Townsend having this moment.
“People have always said, ‘Oh, you're so talented, you have so many weapons, you have so many things you can do,’ but…,” she told reporters following the match. “There was always a 'but.' I feel like the work I've been putting in and all the things I've been doing have eliminated that 'but.' I'm emerging as a new person.”
Felix finally flies
Felix Auger-Aliassime (27), you moved me last night.
I confess it’s been pretty painful watching FAA this year, with a regular stream of easily avoidable errors and early tournament exits (including R1 at his home tournament in Toronto). I was dreading his match against Alexander Zverev (3), assuming Auger-Aliassime wouldn’t put up much of a fight, and it would be another easy win to inexplicably convince Zverev he’s on par with Sincaraz.
But last night, with the crowd behind him, something finally seemed to click, and we got to see the FAA we’ve all been hoping would show up again when he beat the third seed in four sets. It was his first-ever win against a top 5 player at a Grand Slam, and it was beautiful. After taking the second set, his confidence soared, and he played with more freedom, putting real weight behind the phrase “painting the lines.”
In typical Zverev fashion, he sank into himself, all but giving up as Auger-Aliassime put on the show. It continues to astound me that he’s ranked number three in the world with so little grit. I can confidently say that everyone else in the top 10 right now faces adversity like less of a wilting flower, fighting until the last point, even when a loss seems inevitable. Things weren’t even that dire for Zverev—yes, Felix was redlining, but there were two sets left to potentially play after he snagged the third—and he still gave up.
But as they say, the best player (person?) won.
Two almost-major upsets
Auger-Aliassime’s Canadian compatriot Denis Shapovalov (29) also showed moments of brilliance in his third-round match against Jannik Sinner (1) yesterday, but he couldn’t maintain it and engaged in a bit of temper tantrum self-sabotage. Sinner (whose serve was shaky the whole match, among other things) looked completely beatable for once, and it’s frustrating that Shapo couldn’t lock in and take advantage. I don’t think it’s even a hot take to say that Alexander Bublik, who meets Sinner in the next round, could absolutely knock him out like he did in Halle.
On the WTA side, Iga Swiatek (2) fans were given quite a scare when she was down 5-1 to Anna Kalinskaya (29) in the first set. But in classic Swiatek fashion, the adversity caused her to go full Terminator mode, saving four set points and winning six of the next seven, ultimately winning a first-set breaker and the second set handily at 6-4. It was tough to watch Kalinskaya (who had the match on her racket in that first set and failed to serve it out) burst into tears as she walked to the locker room.
Off Court
Does anyone want to coach Meddy?
I would be remiss not to mention that Daniil Medvedev (13) announced today that he and his longtime coach, Gilles Cervera, are parting ways. The duo worked together for eight years, during which Medvedev reached world No. 1 and won 20 titles. But with Meddy’s latest antics and lack of form, the vibes have certainly soured. Cervera has been spotted leaving some of Medvedev’s matches early in recent months whenever he starts having fits, and I saw him do the same during a pre-tournament practice for the US Open. Meddy started throwing his racket around, as he is wont to do, and Cervera beelined for the exit. It’s highly possible Meddy fired him because of his bad (but largely self-inflicted) results, but I also wouldn’t be surprised if Cervera was simply over it.
Now the question is, who the hell will dare to replace him?
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