US Open Tennis 2015 Results: Scores, Highlights from Early Tuesday Results
The 2015 U.S. Open is nearing the finish line, which means fewer matches but greater drama. Tuesday saw the quarterfinals begin with Roberta Vinci's career-best run in a major tournament continuing, and defending men's champion Marin Cilic survived a five-set scare from Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.
Even though Vinci's showdown with Kristina Mladenovic was the only singles match to feature two unranked players, both women traded blows for three tense sets before the Italian pulled away in the final set with a 6-3, 5-7, 6-4 win.
Cilic seemed to be cruising his way into the semifinals, winning the first two sets, but his inability to finish and Tsonga's determination resulted in the defending men's champion wasting four match points before finally righting the ship in a 6-4, 6-4, 3-6, 6-7, 6-4 win.
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Here are the results from Tuesday's early singles matches at the U.S. Open:
| No. 9 Marin Cilic def. No. 19 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga | 6-4, 6-4, 3-6, 6-7, 6-4 |
| Roberta Vinci def. Kristina Mladenovic | 6-3, 5-7, 6-4 |
Full results from the U.S. Open can be found at USOpen.org.
Cilic def. Tsonga
Leaving aside the near-collapse of Cilic for a moment, it's easy to get lost in the fact that tennis has become a sport so narrow in its champions that there's a surprise when someone off the radar wins anything.
It would take even the most ardent tennis fans a few minutes to remember Cilic won the U.S. Open last year. That's what happens when Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, Andy Murray and Rafael Nadal are/were the standard-bearers for the last decade.
Cilic was also forgotten when the year started because of a shoulder injury, but something about the courts in New York agrees with him.
Confidence is an integral reason for that success, something he acknowledged was returning after his quarterfinal win over Jeremy Chardy, per Naila-Jean Meyers of the New York Times.
“I’m feeling that now (relaxed) even this match, I’m hitting the ball better, serving much, much better, and that gives me really good confidence for the upcoming matches,” Cilic said.
The serve was an integral part of Cilic's success against Tsonga, as he had 29 aces in the match with seven coming in the final set.
But even when Cilic appeared to be going well, he couldn't close it out. He fired back-to-back aces up 5-4 in the fifth set to set up the fourth match point. The 26-year-old followed that with a double-fault to even things 40-40.
Finally, on the fifth match point, Cilic fired off a strong serve that led to this ending, per U.S. Open Tennis:
Cilic's narrow victory over Tsonga does extend his career record to 48-0 when he wins the first two sets in a match, per Tennis.com.
This will also be his third appearance in a Grand Slam semifinal, per ESPN Stats & Info:
Waiting in the wings for Cilic is the winner of Djokovic vs. Feliciano Lopez. The worst-case scenario for Cilic will be a matchup with Djoker, who is 13-0 against the reigning U.S. Open champion in his career.
By comparison, Cilic is 3-2 against Lopez, though the two haven't met in a tournament since the 2014 Cincinnati Masters.
While history isn't on Cilic's side in the event of a matchup with Djokovic, he survived and advanced. He will need to close much stronger on Thursday than he did against Tsonga to keep hope of another win alive.
Vinci def. Mladenovic
It's nice to see narratives get flipped on their head in sports. Tennis is considered a young person's game because it's a unique combination of athleticism, speed, strength, stamina and endurance that doesn't last very long.
However, looking at the women's bracket, it's heartening to see wily veterans like Vinci (32), Venus Williams (35) and Serena Williams (33) all fighting for a chance to reach the semifinals on Tuesday.
In the case of Vinci, she has already secured her spot in the final four. The U.S. Open has been her best Grand Slam tournament throughout her career, reaching the quarterfinals in 2012 and 2013, but this is her first semifinal in any of the four major events.
In addition to her own personal records established in the win, WTA Insider noted how long it's been since a player ranked this low has advanced to the semifinals:
The bad news for Vinci is Flavia Pennetta lost a straight-set match to Victoria Azarenka in the semifinals. A little bit of history repeating itself would make for an unfortunate end to an otherwise stellar run, albeit one helped by Eugenie Bouchard being forced to withdraw because of an accident.
Whatever Vinci has working for her right now is working, as this brief rally against Mladenovic shows, per U.S. Open Tennis:
Looking ahead to whichever Williams sister Vinci winds up playing in the semifinals, things do look grim for her run to continue since she has a career record of 0-7 with zero sets won against both Venus and Serena, per Tennis.com.
Yet even with those past numbers staring Vinci in the face, she was exuberant after Tuesday's win, per Reuters' Steve Keating (via Yahoo UK).
"It’s an amazing moment for me. Unbelievable," said Vinci. "My first semifinal in my career. It was an incredible match, so tight. But I fight a lot. At the end probably we both were a little bit tired and scared about the match but I’m so happy."
No matter what happens for Vinci in the coming days, this has been a fantastic run for the 32-year-old who hasn't won a WTA event since July 2013. Sometimes, sports can leave a tiny window open for the surprise an off-the-radar player will break through.
Vinci is going to be an underdog for as long as she lasts in New York, which makes the ride even more entertaining than the final destination unless she continues to shock the world with two more victories.
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