[Read a special report on 50 years of the U.S. Open in Queens.]
Luckiest Loser Loses
Four times this year Peter Polansky, a 30-year-old Canadian, lost in the final round of qualifying for a Grand Slam event, and four times he was able to enter anyway, drawn to a replace a late-withdrawing player.
He thus completed the first calendar-year Grand Slam of being a lucky loser. Polansky’s luck did have its limits. He lost his first-round match at the year’s first three majors, and he lost in the first round again at the U.S. Open, falling fourth-seeded Alexander Zverev, 6-2, 6-1, 6-2.
The match was over in 1 hour 36 minutes. But it was 96 extra minutes at a Grand Slam event for Polansky.
Djokovic Perseveres
Novak Djokovic won the last 10 games of the match to claim a 6-3, 3-6, 6-4, 6-0 win over Marton Fucsovics. Djokovic looked to be in serious trouble, down by 4-2 in the third set, and appeared to be getting sick in the withering conditions.
The players took advantage of the 10-minute break allowed between the third and fourth sets under new U.S. Open rules. In his postmatch interview, Djokovic said he and Fucsovics took ice baths next to each other during the break.
[Read more about Djokovic’s win, and his ice bath.]
Match Analysis: Kerber vs. Gasparyan
There were 145 points played in Angelique Kerber’s 7-6(5), 6-3 first-round victory over Margarita Gasparyan, but just 21 of them controlled all the rest.
What were the 21 points that mattered so much? The opening points of the 21 service games played in the match.
Consider that there were 14 combined service games won by the server, while there were seven breaks of serve.
When the opening point of the service game was won by the server, the server went on to win 13 of the 14 games. Just one point won, and the momentum was firmly with the server to hold.
Of the seven service games that led to a break of serve, the opening point was lost by the server six times.
No other statistic in the match was as black and white.
Kerber, the No. 4 seed, won 13 more points than Gasparyan for the match, primarily by winning 14 more points from the baseline (54 to 40).
Kerber had an average rally length for the match of 5.5 shots. An interesting insight into her game this year is how well she did winning short points while uncharacteristically losing long rallies.
When the rally had a maximum of eight shots, Kerber held a commanding 68-48 advantage, but when the rally extended to nine shots or more, Gasparyan manufactured an 18-11 advantage.
CRAIG O’SHANNESSY
Rash of Retirements
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