U.S. Open 2011 Day Three Recap
Day three of the 2011 U.S. Open saw many great matches with an early upset by a 19-year-old American player. That player was Christina McHale of nearby Englewood Cliffs, N.J., who defeated the number eight-seed Marion Bartoli of France in straight sets, 7-6, 6-2.
"I couldn’t play any sloppy games," said McHale in her post-match press conference. " I had to try and compete really hard in the second set because I knew she was going to try even harder, too, to get the second set because she lost the first."
McHale proved she was a force to be reckoned with, with overpowering shots, and out-rallying Bartoli on most occasions in the second set, proving to be too much for the match favorite Bartoli. This marks McHale’s first time to the third round of the U.S. Open and she is sure to be supported in large by the crowd being the American favorite.
Another American, Irina Falconi, also used the crowd support in Flushing Meadows to her favor in her win over the 14-seed Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia in three sets, 2-6, 6-3, 7-5. Falconi represented her nation by waving a flag after her upset over Cibulkova in Arthur Ashe Stadium where she said "she needed to get air" after she heard she would be playing on center court.
"I needed a couple seconds to really grasp that I had just won a match at Arthur Ashe," said Falconi. "It’s unreal."
On the men’s side, another American, Robby Ginepri, advanced after a four set win over Brazilian Joao Souza, 6-3, 6-4, 6-7, 6-1. The number 28 seed, American John Isner defeated Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus in Wednesday night action, 7-6, 7-6, 2-6, 6-4 under the lights at Louis Armstrong Stadium. The top-seeded doubles pairing, America’s Bob & Mike Bryan, were upset on Wednesday by the team of Ivo Karlovic from Croatia & German Frank Moser, 4-6, 6-2, 4-6 on Court 17. Also defeated was the American doubles pairing of Merrick, N.Y.’s Scott Lipsky & Rajeev Ram who lost to the German duo of Michael Kohlmann & Alexander Waske, 5-7, 7-6(6), 7-6(5).
Under the lights, American success at the Open continued as the number 21-seed, Andy Roddick, faced fellow American Michael Russell. Russell put up a fight against Roddick throughout, with long rallies and many forehand winners. Roddick stayed on the defensive most of the night, playing most points from well behind the baseline and not taking opportunities to shorten points. The crowd saw a near three-hour match that ended with a final score in Roddick’s favor, 6-2, 6-4, 4-6, 7-5. Roddick needs to step up his game play if he intends to make it much further in this Grand Slam. Roddick acknowledged that his game play was not "pretty" in a post-match interview, also saying that "every win helps. You know, I’m certainly not fooling myself by thinking that was worthy of a championship performance by any means." Roddick advances to face another American, 18-year-old Jack Sock in the second round of play.
Third-seed Russian Maria Sharapova also played her second round match last night with a late start which extended play past midnight. However, the late start did not stop her from a easy victory over Anastasiya Yakimova of Belarus in straight sets, 6-1, 6-1. Sharapova now goes on to play the 26-seed, Flavia Pennetta of Italy, in the third round.
"I think I improved my intensity a lot," said Sharapova. "I was moving a lot better, just hitting a lot freer. Like I said, I was a little bit impatient in the beginning. But overall, I did many things much better than in the previous round."
►Click here for full results from Day Three action of the 2011 U.S. Open on the men’s side.
►Click here for full results from Day Three action of the 2011 U.S. Open on the women’s side.
Credit all photos to Kenneth B. Goldberg
The number four seed, Andy Murray of Great Britain defeated India’s Somdev Devvarman in Day Three action
28th-seeded American John Isner defeated Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus in Wednesday night action
Argentina’s Juan Martin DelPotro defeated Italy’s Filippo Volandri, 6-3, 6-1, 6-1 in Wednesday afternoon action
The number eight seed Marion Bartoli from France was defeated Wednesday afternoon at the U.S. Open by American Christina McHale
The American doubles team of Scott Lipsky & Rajeev Ram were defeated Wednesday by the German team of Michael Kohlmann & Alexander Waske, 5-7, 7-6(6), 7-6(5)
American Madison Keys was defeated by the number 27 seed from the Czech Republic, Lucie Safarova, 3-6, 7-5, 6-4
Top-seeded American doubles pairing, The Bryan Brothers, were upset on Wednesday by the team of Ivo Karlovic from Croatia & German Frank Moser, 4-6, 6-2, 4-6
