US Open 2017: From Maria Sharapova’s winning run to struggling seeds, talking points of Week 1

The 2017 US Open, already lacking in star power due to the absence of Serena Williams, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray, has suffered high casualties among seeded players. Women’s World No 2 Simona Halep and one of the most talented youngsters on the men’s side — Alexander Zverev — were knocked out in the early rounds. But the controversial comeback of Maria Sharapova and emergence of teen sensations Denis Shapovalov and Andrey Rublev have kept the audience glued on. In a New York minute, here’s how the first week of the US Open went: All eyes on Maria [caption id=“attachment_4004483” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Maria Sharapova reacts during her match against Sofia Kenin. REUTERS[/caption] Maria Sharapova may have gritted past opponents, but she hasn’t quite been able to stare down her critics yet. The tennis fraternity is still divided over the USTA handing Sharapova, ranked 146 in the world, a wildcard into the main draw. The tournament directors, sponsors and fans have welcomed the game’s most marketable female star and the tall Russian, who turned out in a black dress embedded with crystals for her Grand Slam return, has oozed glamour and gumption in New York. But it hasn’t stopped rivals from questioning the special treatment meted out to Sharapova, who had lost her place on the ranking charts because she was serving a 15-month doping suspension. Former World No 1 Caroline Wozniacki said it didn’t send out a right message that Sharapova was being placed at the Arthur Ashe Stadium, US Open’s centre court, for each of her matches. “I don’t make the schedule,” Sharapova retaliated. “I’m a pretty big competitor. If you put me out in the parking lot of Queens in New York City, I’m happy to play there. That’s not what matters to me. All that matters to me is I’m in the fourth round. Yeah, I’m not sure where she is…” As controversial and hyped as her return to Majors has been, she is one of the game’s biggest competitors. That’s what Sharapova has shone a light on as she has battled past tough rivals — starting with World No 2 Simona Halep — in the past three rounds. The target on her back has only got bigger. Top seeds slug it out The hyper Rafael Nadal burst into cries of ‘Vamos!’ and his player box joined in the celebrations like he had won a pretty big deal. It did turn out to be a pretty big deal in the match against Leonardo Mayer. Having lost the first set and squandered away 13 break points up to that point, Nadal finally found a way to break the Argentine’s serve at 3-3 in the second set. He sprinted ahead from that point on, winning the match 6-7(3), 6-3, 6-1, 6-4 in three hours and 16 minutes. “I don’t know how many break points I had before I got the first one,” Nadal said. “Mentally, I fought a lot until that moment, then I think I played better.” It hasn’t been easy sailing for Nadal, or for that matter his perennial rival Roger Federer. While Nadal had to recover from a set down for the second consecutive match, Federer, for the first time in his career had to endure back-to-back five setters in the first two rounds of a Grand Slam. If the young Frances Tiafoe tested him with his power and athleticism in the opening round, it was Mikhail Youzhny’s refined game that stretched Federer in the second. But the Swiss looked a lot smoother during his straight sets win over lefty Feliciano Lopez in the third round. In the women’s section, Karolina Pliskova is slowly getting used to the view from the top. Opponents with little to lose have come hard and fast at her, and the statuesque Czech has managed to hang by a thread. On Saturday, she came back from match point down to beat China’s Shaui Zhang 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 in the third round. Young and restless As excited as the tennis world is to see Nadal and Federer turn back the clock, two teenagers have yanked the men’s game up to date. Canada’s Shapovalov, whose first star turn ironically came against Nadal when he defeated the Spaniard at the Montreal Masters, plays with the reckless abandon of an 18-year-old but a temper of a future champion. His daring strokeplay and restless energy had the Arthur Ashe hooked, as ‘El Shapo’ sent eighth seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga packing in straight sets in the second round. He seemed to have found his range against Kyle Edmund in the following round as well, before the Brit retired at 3-6, 6-3, 6-3, 1-0. Russia’s Rublev hasn’t quite made that big a splash, but he has played his own part to shape this year’s US Open. In the second round, Rublev was up against seventh seed and the man in form Grigor Dimitrov. Labelled ‘Baby Fed’ for his elegant game, Dimitrov hadn’t quite found the heart to back that talent. And Rublev kept up the pressure on Dimitrov before finally breaking him down 7-5, 7-6(3), 6-3. It was the 19-year-old’s first top-10 scalp and is likely to hasten his ascent on the world stage. Venus leads American brigade Even as sister Serena is tending to her new-born baby girl, Venus Williams is vying for the title 20 years after she made it to the final on her US Open debut. Having made it to the finals of the Australian Open and Wimbledon this year, the elder of the Williams sisters looks good to enter the business end of the tournament this time too. After a slow start, where she was taken to three sets by Slovakia’s Viktoria Kuzmova, she has sailed into the fourth round. But she isn’t the only American looking to make a dent in the draw this time around. Four of her compatriots have made it to the final 16. CoCo Vandeweghe, Sloane Stephens and Jennifer Brady had all made it to the fourth round before Madison Keys rounded off the tally with the second latest finish at the US Open. Keys and Alison Riske had set the record last year, finishing the day’s schedule at 1:48 am. On Sunday, Keys defeated Elena Vesnina 2-6, 6-4, 6-1 in a late-night thriller that went on till 1:45 am local time.