- Mladenovic fumes at ‘abominable’ treatment under Covid protocols
- Johanna Konta out of US Open after defeat by Sorana Cirstea
- Email Bryan with your thoughts or tweet him @BryanAGraham
Second set: Gasparyan 2-6, 4-6 Williams
Gut check time for Gasparyan as she quickly goes down love-30, putting Williams two points from the finish line. Williams misfires a forehand but Gasparyan responds with an unforced error of her own for match point. Gasparyan then sends a forehand wide and long and it’s over! Williams is through to a third-round showdown with Sloane Stephens after one hour and 33 minutes!
Win #103@serenawilliams keeps rolling at the #USOpen pic.twitter.com/Wme5wKKFyD
Second set: *Gasparyan 2-6, 4-5 Williams (*denotes next server)
Williams races out to 40-love on her serve. “Come on, Serena! Come on!” she exhorts between point. But Gasparyan, who’s hanging in the rallies bettter than before and playing with more confidence, is hanging in there. She pushes it back to deuce, aided by a gorgeous drop-shot winner and Serena’s fourth double fault. Suddenly we’re in another marathon. Williams saves a break point with a 107mph ace down the pipe, then finally escapes with the hold when Gasparyan sends a forehand sailing. The Russian will serve to stay in the tournament after the changeover.
Second set: Gasparyan 2-6, 4-4 Williams* (*denotes next server)
Gasparyan hums through her first comfortable hold of serve since 1-5 in the first. Sorely needed.
Gasparyan breaks in seventh game of second set!
Second set: *Gasparyan 2-6, 3-4 Williams (*denotes next server)
Williams breaks in sixth game of second set!
Second set: Gasparyan 2-6, 2-4 Williams* (*denotes next server)
Gasparyan breaks in fifth game of second set!
Second set: *Gasparyan 2-6, 2-3 Williams (*denotes next server)
Williams breaks in fourth game of second set!
Second set: Gasparyan 2-6, 1-3 Williams* (*denotes next server)
Second set: *Gasparyan 2-6, 1-2 Williams (*denotes next server)
Another comfortable hold for Williams, who cracks her fourth and fifth aces of the night along the way.
Second set: Gasparyan 2-6, 1-1 Williams* (*denotes next server)
Gasparyan holds but she’s made to labor for it. Williams is moving as well as we’ve seen since the tour returned from coronavirus hiatus.
Second set: *Gasparyan 2-6, 0-1 Williams (*denotes next server)
Important for Williams to reassert her serve after inexplicably getting broken at love at 5-2 in the first. And that’s exactly what she does, capping a drama-free hold with a 115mph ace down the center.
Williams breaks in eighth game of first set!
First set: Gasparyan 2-6 Williams
Gasparyan breaks in seventh game of first set!
First set: *Gasparyan 2-5 Williams (*denotes next server)
Williams breaks in sixth game of first set!
First set: Gasparyan 1-5 Williams* (*denotes next server)
Overhead winner. Making it look easy @serenawilliams | #USOpenpic.twitter.com/0ZuJfgWef6
First set: *Gasparyan 1-4 Williams (*denotes next server)
Serena crushes her second ace of the night, a 109mph missile down the center, for 30-love. She’s won 10 of the 12 points on her racket so far. But Gasparyan gets her teeth into a couple rallies over the next few points and suddenly Williams is facing a break point. The American saves it with a forehand volley winner, then holds after hitting a 97mph second-serve service winner and forced error by Gasparyan from the baseline.
First set: Gasparyan 1-3 Williams* (*denotes next server)
Gasparyan having trouble with her serve toss, but crowds Williams with a 103mph serve to the body that she can’t return in play. Williams wins two quick points to make things uncomfortable at 15-30, but Gasparyan holds from there to get on the board.
Dominant early @serenawilliams | #USOpenpic.twitter.com/FZPhN1prCX
First set: *Gasparyan 0-3 Williams (*denotes next server)
Another stress-free service game for Williams, who caps the hold with a crisp backhand winner down the line. Gasparyan will need to show something and quickly or this one could be over in a hurry.
Williams breaks in second game of first set!
First set: Gasparyan 0-2 Williams* (*denotes next server)
First set: *Gasparyan 0-1 Williams (*denotes next server)
Williams opens the match with a commanding service game, punctuating the love hold with a 104mph ace down the pipe. Promising start.
A steady rainfall has started right as the players finish their warm-ups. The decision to close the roof, which typically takes about seven minutes, is an easy one. All play on the outer courts, including four singles matches, has been suspended. The break comes moments after Britain’s Dan Evans saved two set points against France’s Corentin Moutet. The No 23 seed will serve at 6-4, 3-6, 5-6, Ad In when play resumes.
Serena Williams and Margarita Gasparyan have taken the court for their second-round match on Ashe. They’ve faced off twice before with Serena winning both meetings in straight sets.
.@serenawilliams is in the building.#USOpen pic.twitter.com/DX4pmL5aS7
Good evening and welcome to Arthur Ashe Stadium for tonight’s prime-time twinbill. A pair of second-round matches are on the menu with Serena Williams facing Russia’s Margarita Gasparyan, followed by Andy Murray’s first career meeting with Félix Auger-Aliassime.
Some quick items from the day session to get you caught up:
Related: Johanna Konta out of US Open after defeat by Sorana Cirstea
Bryan will be here shortly. In the meantime, it’s safe to say that Kristina Mladenovic was not happy with conditions in Queens this week:
France’s Kristina Mladenovic complained of living a “nightmare” due to the Covid-19 health protocols at the US Open after suffering a spectacular meltdown to lose to Russian Varvava Gracheva in her second-round match.
Related: Kristina Mladenovic fumes at ‘abominable’ treatment under US Open Covid protocols
