Good morning, Court Theorists! ☕️☀️🗽
Today’s tennis mood: Audibly lonely and buckling down for a full day of matches.
Let’s tennis!
-Allen
🎾 On tap: It’s Day Four of the U.S. Open, but we’re still not quite through the first round yet, thanks to off-and-on rain the last couple of days. So, today, we’ve got some incomplete first-round matches to finish, as well as some that never even took court. But it’s also the start of the second round. All of that adds up to a truly outstanding order of play for today. More on that below.
🎾 ICYMI: Only one seed went down yesterday, and that was Belinda Bencic, who lost to Yulia Putintseva 4-6, 7-5, 6-3. But Putsy wanted to know why Bencic wasn’t defaulted. Flavio Cobolli, the fifth seed, came back from two sets down against Francisco Cerundolo to win 3-6, 2-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4. And Lorenzo Sonego almost became a Court Theory hero by nearly taking down Alexander Zverev, but lost 6-4 in the fifth set.
🎾 An ace down the tee: Court Theory friend Amy Lundy Dahl raised a question on X that I had been feeling the first few days of the U.S. Open: What is up with the lack of commentators on the outer courts? ESPN is charging quite the premium for its Unlimited product. So, why is it so limited? Why am I watching seeded players without some insight from former pros? Why am I not getting info about what’s happening off-camera? Where are my fellow humans?
🎾 A continuation: That’s Coco Gauff, who won her match in straight sets over Zeynep Sonmez by continuing her form from Cincinnati. The forehand was sharp. The serves were powerful and unwavering. And, at one stage, she won nine points in a row. She tallied only three double faults in the match — all in the first set, as she worked out some early butterflies.
What she said: “I don’t know what put my mind at ease,” Gauff said of her nerves early in the match. “I think just maybe the confidence I had this week and knowing, like, the opponent would have to play a really high level and me a really low level maybe for it to not go my way.”
Next: Gauff will play the winner of Paula Badosa vs. Daria Kasatkina.
🎾 One to watch: Sloane Stephens vs. Marta Kostyuk (2nd round - U.S. Open): Watch this one for the rematch! These two just faced off in Cincinnati and put on one of the most highly entertaining matches of the whole tournament. Kostyuk pulled off the win 7-5, 7-5, but a few points done differently could have changed the outcome. Expect Stephens to use the full court to put Kostyuk in uncomfortable positions before striking. And expect Kostyuk to go big early in rallies before Stephens can sink her teeth in.
The record: Marta Kostyuk leads the head-to-head record over Sloane Stephens 1-0.
On the line: Stephens has made it clear this is the most important tournament to her, so an early exit isn’t part of her plan. Meanwhile, Kostyuk has made the semis of the last two majors. Anything less than that will feel like a letdown. On top of that, she has a chance to crack the top 10 for the first time at the U.S. Open, but it won’t come if she loses early.
🎾 🏆 🎤 YOUR CALL
(Yesterday’s poll results: 100% of you called for Coco Gauff to defeat Zeynep Sonmez. Gauff won 6-3, 6-4.)
And that’s game.
