US Open round-up: Stars shell-shocked in third round

Sport360 staff 07:54 30/08/2014
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  • Tough day at the office: World No2 Halep lost to qualifier Lucic-Baroni in straight sets.

    The US Open women’s draw was blown wide open yesterday as world No2 Simona Halep, sixth seed Angelique Kerber and two-time champion Venus Williams tumbled out of the third round.

    Two players at opposite ends of the tennis age spectrum authored the upsets of the day.

    Croatian veteran Mirjana Lucic- Baroni, a former phenom now a 32-year-old veteran who had to fight through qualifying, shocked second-seeded Halep, the French Open runner-up 7-6 (8/6), 6-2.

    And 17-year-old Swiss Belinda Bencic toppled Germany’s Kerber 6-1, 7-5.

    The reward for the 121st-ranked Lucic-Baroni is a fourth-round meeting with 13th-seeded Italian Sara Errani, who thwarted Williams 6-0, 0-6, 7-6 (7/5). Bencic, the 2013 Wimbledon and French Open junior champion, now ranked 58th in the world, earned a meeting with former world No1 Jelena Jankovic for a place in the quarter-finals.

    “It’s incredible, amazing, I feel goofy,” said Lucic-Baroni, who reached a grand slam fourth round for the first time since making it to the 1999 Wimbledon semi-finals as a 17-year-old.

    “After so many years, it’s incredible. I live for this,” she said. “I am 32. Every painful moment has been worth it.”

    The last grand slam of the year has now lost four of it’s top 10 women’s seeds, after the second-round departures of Agnieszka Radwanska and Ana Ivanovic.

    Errani’s triumph over 19th-seeded Williams wasn’t strictly speaking an upset, but the 13th-seeded Italian had to dig deep to notch her first career victory over the American after three defeats.

    “I know that was a really tough match, even if I won the first set 6-0 she’s an amazing player,” Errani said.

    In the men’s section, Australian wildcard Bernard Tomic pulled out of the US Open with a left hip injury, handing fourth-seeded David Ferrer a third-round berth.

    Tomic, 21, said he’d also been battling flu prior to his first round victory over Dustin Brown, and when the hip pain flared he opted to take a conservative approach.

    “I don’t want to muck around with that area. It’s painful,” said Tomic.

    Tomic has endured a troubled year since January, coming back from hip surgery to suffer a record 26-minute defeat in his return at Miami.

    He dropped out of the top 100 for the first time in three years after a second-round exit at Wimbledon, and in July global management company IMG said it had split with him, reportedly over concerns over his off-court behaviour.

    Wimbledon semi-finalist Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria continued his best-ever US Open with a 6-1, 6-2, 6-2 victory over Dudi Sela, improving his career record against the Israeli to 3-0.

    Djokovic and Williams on top

    Novak Djokovic reached the third round of a grand slam for the 25th consecutive time while Serena Williams racked up her 80th US Open win as the top seeds eased into the third round. They were joined in the last 32 by 2012 winner Andy Murray and reigning Wimbledon women’s champion Petra Kvitova.

    Djokovic breezed past France’s Paul-Henri Mathieu 6-1, 6-3, 6-0, firing 13 aces and 33 winners. Williams sent 25 winners past Vania King and broke serve six times, wrapping up a 6-1, 6-0 victory in just 56 minutes.

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