U.S. Open: Caroline Wozniacki is the latest high seed in the women’s draw to lose

Donald Young is one of just two American men remaining in the U.S. Open draw, joining John Isner. 

 The second round of the U.S. Open refused to end Thursday night — indeed, it stretched into Friday morning. When it finally wrapped up, another high women’s seed — in this case, No.4 Caroline Wozniacki — was out of the tournament as 149th-ranked Petra Cetkovska dominated a third-set tiebreak to complete the upset, 6-4, 5-7, 7-6 (7-1).

The night’s final match in Arthur Ashe Stadium figured to be a showcase for Wozniacki, one of the few players who has been discussed as a potential spoiler for Serena Williams’s calendar Grand Slam.
But Cetkovska, who has been hampered by foot and hip injuries over the past several years, made that speculation irrelevant.

In the deciding set, Cetkovska fought off four match points to get to a tiebreaker and then did not let Wozniacki hold a lead. The Czech won seven of the eight tiebreak points before throwing both of her arms into the air and tilting her head toward the sky when Wozniacki hit the final shot into the net.
“It really sucks to lose a match like that,” said Wozniacki. “If you lose 1-1, it sucks, but at least you didn’t have a chance. Either you sucked or the other one was just much better. Here, not playing my best level, but still being so close, still having my chances, not closing it out, that hurts. That really hurts.”


Only three of the top 10 seeds remain in the women’s singles draw.

Young advances

Donald Young stood on U.S. Open Court 17, opening his arms toward the crowd and then pounding his chest several times. It was a victory celebration once expected to play out on bigger stages. Instead, the moment served as a welcome change for the former future star of American tennis.
Two hours earlier, Young had dropped the first set to his second-round opponent, Aljaz Bedene, and two days earlier, Young found himself down two sets to No. 11 seed Gilles Simon.
But the 26-year-old Atlanta resident rallied to win the final three sets from Simon, the first sets he has won off the Frenchman in six matches, and complete the biggest comeback in an 11-year career. His rally against Bedene wasn’t quite as impressive, but the 68th-ranked player in the world is perfectly happy to be in the third round for the first time since 2011.

“This one is totally different.” Young said. “I mean, I’m a little older. I’ve had a lot of ups and downs. I’ve put in some work. To come back from two sets to love down in the first match and to come back from a set down and 2-0 in this one, it totally feels different, and I’m really excited about it.”
Young is also one of just two American men remaining in the draw, joining John Isner, who moved on with a more pedestrian 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 win over Mikhail Youzhny. Isner lost eight points on his first serve in the match after dropping one such point in his opening round win over Malek Jaziri.
But the other three American men playing singles Thursday struggled.

Jack Sock appeared to be on his way to playing this weekend after taking the first two sets against Ruben Bemelmans, but the 22-year-old was forced to retire after a scary scene on a steamy afternoon.
He struggled with cramps in the latter stages of the match, losing the third set, 6-3, in 26 minutes and only making it through three games in the fourth set. After firing a serve in the fourth game, Sock grabbed his upper left leg, hobbled toward the edge of the court and then could not move any further. He was helped to the ground by a trainer and quickly was surrounded by four people trying to cool him off with ice. Sock struggled to keep his eyes open and did not have the energy to shake Bemelmans’s hand when he walked over to Sock. Sock was eventually helped off the court.

Murray rallies

Only one player, retired American Todd Martin, has more comebacks from two sets down than No. 3 seed Andy Murray, who pulled off the eighth such comeback of his career against Adrian Mannarino.
It might not be a distinction Murray enjoys, given what those matches have required of him, but it is better than the alternative he faced 1 hour 44 minutes into Thursday’s match.
Mannarino, who has one career victory over a top 10 opponent, took the first two sets as Murray converted just one of his first 10 break-point opportunities. But the Frenchman appeared to lose a step later in the match, and Murray took advantage, claiming the final three sets in a 5-7, 4-6, 6-1, 6-3, 6-1 victory.

The final set took just 22 minutes.
“I’ve come through many tough matches in my career, and I think that’s why when you are behind like that in the scoreline, when you’ve done it in the past, you have the belief that you can come through and do it again,” Murray said. “That definitely helped me here today.”