The match itself might not have lived up to its billing, but still, how cool was that?
Naomi Osaka, having just vanquished Coco Gauff under the lights of Arthur Ashe, could’ve done the normal thing and basked alone in the moment she had rightly earned. Instead, she went to immediately console Gauff, and share the spotlight of her post-match interview. It was a wonderful moment, between tennis’ present and future.
Particularly in the past few weeks, tennis has had plenty of focus on its villains, and while there is a place for players fans love to hate (to an extent), it still needs its heroes. Naomi Osaka is one of its heroes.
Here’s your three to see on day 7 in New York:
Johanna Konta (GBR) [16] v Karolina Pliskova (CZE) [3] – Second on Louis Armstrong
A familiar position for Karolina Pliskova and Jo Konta, both are on the verge of making serious noise again at a major, but alas, they’ll have to go through the other to do it. A matchup that – courtesy of her 6-1 H2H advantage – would seem to heavily favour Pliskova, matches between these two actually tend to be very close, with five three-setters in those seven meetings. Here should be no different, with the key being how Konta is able to stop Pliskova from sitting on the baseline and dictating exchanges – if the Brit is able to use her slice, mix-in drop shots, play balls flat and low to her forehand and just generally make things awkward, the Czech will struggle to find an answer, and that will make this a real tightrope-walk of a contest.
Elina Svitolina (UKR) [5] v Madison Keys (USA) [10] – First on Arthur Ashe (Night Session)
Two players who both look ready to make some serious noise in New York after impressive showings in their third-round, one of either Elina Svitolina or Madison Keys is instead about to add this tournament to their long list of disappointments. A very tough match to call, Keys leads the head-to-head 2-1, while Svitolina took their most recent meeting, a topsy-turvy 6-2, 1-6, 6-1 affair this year in Melbourne, and we should probably expect the same here. Certainly Svitolina cannot hope to match Keys when it comes to firepower, and that means there’s going to be stretches where she simply gets steamrolled, but the Ukranian won’t simply go away either, and if she can make things awkward long enough for the American to come back down to earth, it will be very much anyone’s game. Either way, it should be an interesting contest.
Novak Djokovic (SRB) [1] v Stanislas Wawrinka (SUI) [23] – Second on Arthur Ashe (Night Session)
Oh snap, it’s finally happening! Three years after arguably the craziest final in US Open history, we get the rematch we all deserve as Novak Djokovic once again squares off against Stan Wawrinka. If you’ve forgotten the particulars of that match, Wawrinka won it 6-7, 6-4, 7-5, 6-3 while saving 14 of 17 break points, and just generally playing out of his mind when it mattered. Again here the upset is very much in play, as while Djokovic’s overall 20-5 head-to-head advantage Djokovic will make him a strong favourite, it remains to be seen how his gimpy shoulder fares, and with the way Wawrinka cracks the ball, he’ll be able to take advantage more than most. Of course, it’s very possible Djokovic looks like his usual impenetrable self, but in any case, you’re guaranteed some high-quality tennis.
