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Snap Judgments: Labor Day at the 2018 United States Open Tennis Championships

Robert Cole/ALOST

 

akoiki-passport2 – by Adesina O. Koiki
A Lot of Sports Talk editor-in-chief

 

NEW YORK — It was the 1980s hip-hop group Whodini who coined the line, “Freaks Come Out at Night,” in a popular rap song and, after a relatively quiet day at the US Open on Monday, proceedings got freaky during the evening session, causing a couple of shockwaves in the men’s and women’s singles draw.

On the first evening match at Arthur Ashe Stadium on the Labor Day holiday, No. 30 seed Carla Suárez Navarro came away with a 6-4, 6-3 victory over No. 22 seed and 2006 US Open Champion Maria Sharapova, dealing the five-time Grand Slam winner the first-ever loss in the evening at the US Open after 23 consecutive victories in such occasions.

If that was a surprise, then what happened next was a complete shocker, as world No. 2 and five-time US Open champion Roger Federer struggled mightily in the humid conditions before losing in four sets to No. 55 John Millman of Australia, 3-6, 7-5, 7-6 (7), 7-6 (3). Not only was this Millman’s first-ever win against a top-10 opponent, it also marked the first time Federer has ever lost to a player ranked outside the top 50 in New York. Before tonight, Federer had been 40-0 in those matches at the US Open.

“I just thought it was very hot tonight. Was just one of those nights where I guess I felt I couldn’t get air. There was no circulation at all,” Federer said after the match. “I just struggled in the conditions. It’s one of the first times it’s happened to me.”

*Editor’s note: Above the byline is the photo gallery from Thursday’s Day 3 action, with all photos taken by our senior photographer, Robert Cole. After clicking on the first photo to enlarge the picture, make sure to press the left and right arrow buttons to scroll through the rest of the pictures. There are currently 41 pictures in total.

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