Forget mice and men for the moment. Their plans going awry got nuthin’ on those who may have been counting on seeing perennial favorites in Flushing Meadows this week.
We’re only at the midway point of the fourth round and we’ve already seen in three of the past four nights upsets of seismic proportion at the U.S. Open. Each one more conclusive and surprising that the one that preceded it.
YARDBARKER’s Sai Mohan began the reporting on Friday:
In what is being deemed the biggest upset of 2024, Carlos Alcaraz’s 15-match winning streak at major events ended courtesy of the Netherlands’ Botic van de Zandschulp, who stunned the Spaniard in straight sets, 6-1, 7-5, 6-4, to advance to the third round at Flushing Meadows.
The early exit meant Alcaraz wouldn’t join Rod Laver and Rafael Nadal on the list of players to win the French Open, Wimbledon, and US Open in the same calendar year. The loss also marked his earliest at a major since he bowed out in the second round of the 2021 Wimbledon as a teenager.
Alcaraz — who committed 27 unforced errors — admitted that he never felt himself throughout the match, evident when he quickly went down 4-1 in the opening set. Van De Zandschulp kept attacking the net, where he converted 28/35 points, forcing the Spaniard to switch strategy and move away from his thunderous baseline strokes. However, Alcaraz lacked the accuracy and high-end shotmaking that helped him capture four majors at age 21. He even hinted at feeling a mental burnout after he lost to Novak Djokovic in the gold-medal game at the Paris Olympics.
On Saturday, it was said Olympics and 2023 Open finals opponent’s turn, as CBS SPORTS’ Isabel Gonzalez related:
No. 28 seed Alexei Popyrin upset world No. 2 Novak Djokovic, 6-4, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4, in the third round of the 2024 US Open. The 25-year-old earned a ticket to his first round of 16 in a Grand Slam and a date with American star Frances Tiafoe on Sunday. Prior to Friday, Popyrin held a 87-106 record and had never beaten a top-five opponent in a major tournament.
“It’s unbelievable because I’ve been in the third round about 15 times in my career, but I haven’t been able to get past to the fourth round,” Popyrin said. “And to be able to do it against the greatest of all time to get into the fourth round, it’s unbelievable. It’s a great feeling and the hard work has paid off.”
This marked Djokovic’s first loss in the third round of the US Open since 2006 against Lleyton Hewitt — who was at Arthur Ashe Stadium to witness Popyrin’s win.
And last night, the women’s side saw its defending titlist bow out, as THE NEW YORK POST’s Brian Lewis mustered up the cojones to report this morning:
Coco’s Gone.
In an All-American showdown at the U.S. Open, defending champion Coco Gauff got eliminated by New York-born Emma Navarro. Under-the-radar Emma — as she calls herself — is now in the spotlight. And in the U.S. Open quarterfinals, thanks to a 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 victory.
“It’s pretty insane. I lost in the first round the last two years,” Navarro said in an on-court TV interview. “It’s the city I was born in, and it feels so special to be playing here.”
Last year Gauff claimed her first major here in Flushing. A season ago, Navarro was ranked 149th in the world, playing in a $25,000 tournament in Naples.
If there is a silver living, this will allow the likes of Navarro to be discovered by the discerning and influential New York crowd and the gloabl audience. And Lewis’ colleague Zach Braziller optimistically pointed out in the POST SPORTS+ newsletter this morning she’s not alone among potential U.S. breakouts now that the playing field has been leveled:
Like the 23-year-old Navarro, No. 6 seed Jessica Pegula never has reached the semifinals of a grand slam before. Now she’s two wins away, going into a fourth-round match Monday against No. 18 Diana Shnaider.
Then there are the men.
No. 20 seed Frances Tiafoe booked a return to the quarterfinals with a four-set win over Alexei Popyrin in front of a packed Arthur Ashe Stadium crowd on Sunday night. No. 12 Taylor Fritz also reached the quarters, where he will meet No. 4 Alexander Zverev on Tuesday. The 26-year-old Fritz never has reached the semifinals of a grand slam before.
At this writing, Pegula is up a set. If you recognize the surname, she’s the heiress to the Buffalo family led by patriarch Terry, who just happens to have a monopoly on the city’s professional sports franchises, with ownership of both the NFL Bills and NHL Sabres. So she, like her emerging contemporaries, is more than worth your investment in cheering them on.
But be forewarned. Between the two teams, there are exactly zero championships in 115 seasons of competition between them.
Now if she can break THAT streak, let alone take advantage of Gauff’s gaffe, isn’t that an even more surprising storyline than what we had expected?
Courage…