US Open Day 5 women’s results: McNally pulls off lone surprise, Kvitova cruises
Caty McNally is through to the third round of the US Open after upsetting Ekaterina Alexandrova on Friday. The third-round matches have all progressed as expected so far.
Petra Kvitova, Prague 2020
The matches that ended as we anticipated
There was no magic left for Varvara Gracheva, who came back from 6-1, 5-1 down to stun Kristina Mladenovic on Wednesday. Gracheva went down to No 8 Petra Martic 6-3, 6-3 on Friday. Next up for Martic is No 23 Yulia Putintseva, who downed Aliaksandra Sasnovich 3-6, 6-2, 6-1.
No 17 Angelique Kerber progressed easily, beating Ann Li 6-3, 6-4. Kerber will face No 28 Jennifer Brady in a section of the draw vacated by top seed Karolina Pliskova. Caroline Garcia, who knocked off Pliskova, fell to Brady 6-3, 6-3 on Friday.
In the only all-seeded showdown in the entire top half of the women’s draw, No 14 Anett Kontaveit made easy 6-3, 6-2 work of No 24 Magda Linette.
No 6 Petra Kvitova ran into a red-hot Jessica Pegula but had no trouble with the American. In the second night-session match in Arthur Ashe Stadium, the Czech cruised 6-4, 6-3. Next up for Kvitova is another American, Shelby Rogers. In an all-American affair, Rogers got the best of Madison Brengle 6-2, 6-4.
.@Petra_Kvitova reaches the fourth round of a Grand Slam for the 20th time.
Big time player tings. pic.twitter.com/46RIvwBWdw
— US Open Tennis (@usopen) September 5, 2020
The surprise of the day
Of the first seven matches on Friday that featured a seeded player against an unseeded opponent, Caty McNally was the only underdog who prevailed. The American ousted No 21 Ekaterina Alexandrova 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(2) in a second-round match that was delayed by rain on Friday.
Milestone for McNally!
🇺🇸 teen @CatyMcNally is into R3 at a Grand Slam for the first time in her career. #USOpen pic.twitter.com/9ewtUT619j
— US Open Tennis (@usopen) September 4, 2020
The hard-fought battle of the day
No 4 Naomi Osaka battled to a 6-3, 6-7(4), 6-2 win over Marta Kostyuk. Osaka needed two hours and 33 minutes to set up a fourth-round meeting with Kontaveit. The two-time Grand Slam champion has seven masks ready in case she plays seven matches, and her third one had the name of Ahmaud Arbery on it.
“None of these deaths had to happen. I want people to know the names.”
At the U.S. Open, Naomi Osaka continues to spotlight victims of racial injustice. Today, she wore a mask with Ahmaud Arbery’s name. pic.twitter.com/ieDlF6xk5M
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) September 4, 2020
