US Open 2016: 5 biggest upsets so far
The 2016 US Open is into its second week and as such is nearing the business end. We have seen brilliant tennis in the first week from the favourites as well as some surprising newcomers. Top seeds Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams have all powered through to the second week as expected.
So did the main challengers – Andy Murray, Angelique Kerber, Stan Wawrinka and the likes. We saw Serena win a record 307th Grand Slam victory, going past the great Martina Navratilova. We also saw Gael Monfils smash a clock on court while Bernard Tomic was fined an astonishing $10,000 for abusing a spectator. But as it always happens, we also witnessed upsets.
Not all of the usual suspects made it past the first week. French Open champion Garbine Muguruza’s bid was halted in its tracks. Wimbledon finalist Milos Raonic was also shocked among others. Let’s take a look at 5 of the biggest upsets this year in the US Open.
5) Anastasija Sevastova upsets Johanna Konta
The British No.1 Johanna Konta, seeded 13th at Flushing Meadows, was the favourite to go through to the US Open quarterfinals when she was pitted against unseeded Latvian Anastasija Sevastova in the fourth round. But what happened on court was very different from most of us expected to. Konta, who had jumped from 97th rank last year to 14th currently, just could not get going against the 48th ranked Sevastova.
Surprisingly, the US Open was Konta’s favourite slam as opposed to Wimbledon. But unfortunately for her, the Latvian hit the ball beautifully and romped to 6-4, 7-5 win and booked her spot in the last 8.
Though the result qualified to be in the category of upsets, Sevastova disagreed. She remarked, “In women’s tennis, everybody can beat everybody on their day.” Indeed.