The most important thing from the night of the last Grand Slam tournament of the year in Flushing Meadows, short and crisp.
Strongly performing struff in the second round
Jan -Lennard Struff – Mackenzie McDonald 3: 6, 7: 6, 6: 3, 6: 2
Jan-Lennard Struff was the first German to move into the second round in New York. The Warsteiner, who had had to fight the main round over the past few days, played strong against the American Mackenzie McDonald and won his first-class match on Court 12 after a lost first set in a total of four sets. After Struff had lost the first round with 3: 6, the game tipped over at the latest with the tiebreak in the second set.
At 5: 4 from the German perspective, his opponent first gave him a double mistake, then the 35-year-old peppered a strong return to the local hero-the set was there. Afterwards, McDonald looked physically struck, Struff took advantage of it, consistently continued his game with a lot of pressure and some network attacks, only won the fourth round with a decisive break and finally under the cheers of German fans on the square.
“The start was difficult, I didn’t get into the rhythm. But I worked in. In the third and fourth set, I played really well and fought myself in-also thanks to the German fans. The support was incredible, that really gave me a push,” said Struff at TV station Sky after the game. In the second round, Struff now meets Holger Rune.
Maria fails in round one
Maria Sakkari – Tatjana Maria 6: 3, 6: 2
The US Open are already over for Tatjana Maria. The opening hurdle was too high for German number one in the women’s competition. The now 38-year-old defended herself against Maria Sakkari, played good tennis in phases, but did not really have a chance against the certainly playing Greek. After an hour, an exceptionally cut back hand of the German Slice Queen sailed into the end, the first round was gone.
In the second set, Sakkari then took the game even more, Maria ran from left to right, hit one slice ball after the other, went online, tried, did, did-alone, it was of no use. After 1:25 hours, the Greek used her first match ball. For Maria, this ends that the women’s competition now rests hopes from a German perspective on Wimbledon quarter-finalists Laura Siegemund and Eva Lys.
Rune without problems Round-round match
Holger Rune – Botic van de Zandschulp 6: 3, 7: 6, 7: 6
It has become a bit quieter this year about Holger Rune. The sensation climber from 2023 has had a difficult year so far, at the Grand slams he failed twice in the round of 16 (Melbourne, Paris), once in the first round (Wimbledon). The extrovert Dane now wants to get back on track in New York. The start of this mission is at least done.
After three competitive sentences, Rune was able to wrestle his first-round opponent Botic van de Zandschulp in exactly three hours, gained the tie-break impressively in the third set and thus fueled plenty of confidence at the start in New York. In the second round he now meets Jan-Lennard Struff.
Draper in the second round
Jack Draper – Federico Agustin Gomez 6: 4, 7: 5, 6: 7, 2: 6
The whole tennis world always speaks about Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner, because – from a German perspective, the exception of Alexander Zverev – many players from the top 10 sometimes go a little bit. For example Jack Draper. The up -and -coming Brit, number five in New York, won the Masters in Indian Wells this year and was already in the semi -finals at the US Open last year.
This year, too, Draper made up for a lot after a more mixed summer in Europe with a second round in Wimbledon and a spectacular round of round of 16 in Paris against Alexander Buthik. Draper has at least confidently won his first mill in the Big Apple. He defeated the Argentinian Federico Agustin Gomez in four sets in the afternoon. Let’s see how far it can go for the British.