In a span of three hours, the bottom half of the men’s draw could be nicknamed “The Land of Opportunity.”
Day 5 of the 2017 US Open starts with a match that might not have the attention of that many people, but it could cause a seismic event if an upset – which is more than just a possibility – is pulled off. As of right now, the only player in the bottom half of the men’s singles draw who has won a Grand Slam is the No. 5 seed, Marin Cilic, and he takes on a player who is having a breakout season, Diego Schwartzman of Argentina. Schwartzman, who has reached the quarterfinals of two Masters 1000 series events so far this year (Monte Carlo, Montréal) will not be an easy out for the 2014 US Open winner. A win would blow open a field which already has had many players take advantage of the star power that is missing in this tournament in 2017; Four qualifiers and a lucky loser are in the Round of 32, with three of those four qualifiers in the bottom half of the draw. So keep an eye on that match between the 6-foot-6 Cilic and the 5-foot-7 Schwartzman.
Also in the afternoon, there’s a match between two women who have had pretty good runs in the last few months: Ashleigh Barty of Australia and Sloane Stephens of the United States. Barty, known more for her doubles play with compatriot Casey Dellacqua, won her first WTA Tour title in March in Malaysia and, later in the year, made the final in Birmingham before losing to grass court extraordinaire Petra Kvitova. Stephens, after missing 11 months due to a left foot injury, is coming off making the semifinals of back-to-back Masters 1000 events, Toronto and Cincinnati. That should be a fun match to take in!
As always, know that the “refresh” button is your friend! We’ll be updating you constantly on different matches and storylines…because that’s what we do! Again, the most recent blogs are on top.
6:22 PM EST: We just completed a one-on-one interview with a tennis legend! And I mean LEGEND! We’re working on editing the interview right now, so we might be a little delayed in our blogging. We’re also getting set to interview the doubles team of Elena Vesnina and Ekaterina Makarova at 7 PM for a story that Andrew and I are working on for later this week. Busy times, but fun times indeed!
5:59 PM EST: A Dodig forehand goes long on the next point and that’s it! The No. 1 seed in mixed goes down! Ostapenko, with Martin, showing that she’s not just a threat in singles!
5:57 PM EST: Super tiebreak time! Running out to Court 6 to catch the super tiebreak between the top-seeded mixed doubles team of Sania Mirza and Ivan Dodig vs. Jelena Ostapenko – the women’s singles champion at Roland Garros – and Frenchman Fabrice Martin. And Ostapenko showing some doubles moxie with a forehand winner down the line behind Mirza and the unseeded team of Ostapenko-Martin have match point at 9-6!
5:19 PM EST: Shapovalov also just said that, in response to why he wears his hat the way he does, is because “I have a small head.” Also, he said that he’s heard people call his backwards-hat look “Shapo Style.” Looks like that style is here to stay!
5:16 PM EST: Here in Interview Room 1 with Shapovalov, who, when asked to dispel the rumor that 18-year-olds never get tired, jokingly said “No, we never get tired!” There are about 30-35 media members here, which is pretty impressive. He’s not just a star in the making. He’s officially a star.
5:00 PM EST: A couple of hours later and things have finally settled down a bit. Venus Williams just wrapped up her match on Ashe against Maria Sakkari of Greece, 6-3, 6-4. They came onto the court earlier than expected because of the match before it, as qualifier Denis Shapovalov of Canada won over Great Britain’s Kyle Edmund as the latter had to retire at the beginning of the fourth set. Planning on heading to the Shapovalov press conference.
3:01 PM EST: Our photographer is here…and he’s almost gone! Robert is pulling some serious double duty today, shooting the morning and early afternoon here then heading to Red Bull Arena in Harrison, N.J. (the next neighborhood over from Newark) to shoot the World Cup Qualifying game between the United States and Costa Rica. Before he leaves, though, he will leave us the gift of pictures from the high-profile matches this afternoon. Players snapped include Schwartzman, Cilic, Stephens, Barty, Edmund, Shapovalov and Kvitova. That’s not bad, right?!
2:59 PM EST: It is now official: John Isner is the highest-seeded player left in the bottom half of the men’s singles draw. Let that sink in. Now, listen to this: If Isner loses to No. 23 Mischa Zverev on Ashe this evening, then that title moves to………..Pablo Carreno Busta, at No. 12.
2:40 PM EST: It is officially “the Land of Opportunity” in the men’s singles draw! Schwartzman has beaten Cilic! The Argentinian wins 4-6, 7-5, 7-5, 6-4, as he ended the match with a forehand winner. He is a very emotional person who wears his emotions on his sleeves, and I can only imagine what he’s feeling right now after what must be the biggest win of his career! Also, at the same time as Schwartzman finishing off Cilic, Sloane Stephens finished off Ashleigh Barty, 6-2, 6-4. Sadly, we didn’t make it out to either court in time, but we’re about to head out now.
2:14 PM EST: Sloane Stephens currently looking good against another player who has had a pretty good summer, Ashleigh Barty of Australia, as Sloane won the first set 6-2. It’s 2-2 in the second, and we might make it out to Armstrong before that match is over.
2:10 PM EST: To build on that point, if Cilic were to lose, one of these players, alive in the tournament as of the time of this blog entry, will be in the US Open Final: Sam Querrey, Radu Albot, Mischa Zverev, John Isner, Paolo Lorenzi, Kevin Anderson, Borna Coric, Denis Shapovalov, Kyle Edmund, Pablo Carreno Busta, Lucas Pouille, Mikhail Kukushkin, Diego Schwartzman. Hence why this Schwartzman-Cilic match is huge!
2:03 PM EST: Settled at the desk and, already, some interesting happenings. On Grandstand, 2014 US Open champion Marin Cilic is down two sets to one to No. 29 seed Diego Schwartzman of Argentina, whom we got a chance to talk to for a bit when we were in Canada covering Coupe Rogers (Rogers Cup). Because of Andy Murray’s withdrawal, Cilic, who is the No. 5 seed, was moved from the top half of the draw to the bottom half to maintain balance in the draw. (There are a number of procedures taken by a Grand Slam if a top-four seed withdraws before the unveiling of the draw.) Federer and Nadal are in the top half and Cilic, one of only two other Grand Slam men’s singles champion remaining in the field outside of Fed and Rafa (2009 US Open champ Juan Martin del Potro is the other), is in the bottom half. A Cilic loss would cause utter chaos in the bottom half of the draw! CHAOS!
1:35 PM EST: We are here…but we’re not here just yet. On the shuttle bus from left from Grand Central and we’ve just pulled up into the bus parking entrance at the National Tennis Center. We’re so excited, we couldn’t wait until we got off the bus to start blogging!
