It was a real scorcher at the start of the U.S. Open in New York this past week, with on-court temperatures in the hundreds. Distinctive tennis sweatbands couldn’t protect all the players from the heat, as many had to retire their matches. But, despite the exhaustive high temps, the week was as exciting as ever, getting a glimpse of the top players at their best. Of course, the first week of the U.S. Open never comes without a few surprises. While we saw shoe-ins like Rafael Nadal and Serena Williams make it to the round of 16, there were a handful of upsets to go along the way.
Upsets Along the Way
The first unexpected upset in the first round ended up being Maria Sharapova’s win against second-seed Simona Halep (6-4, 4-6, 6-3). Sharapova was only ranked 146th in this tournament after a drug suspension and needed a wild card to get in, so it was exciting to see a fantastic come-back from her in the first round! She has now made it to the 4th round, so we will see how she competes this week.
Serena Brings It
Serena Williams brought it this week by blowing through her first two rounds handily (all while wearing black and blue gorgeous tutus in backlash to the French Open outfit ban of her all-black jumpsuit). Then, on Friday, she had to face her sister Venus Williams in the second round. The sisters were seeded very close to each other this tournament with Serena as seventeenth-seed and Venus at sixteenth. However, the score was a whopping 6-1, 6-2. Venus said afterwards that it was the "best match [Serena has] ever played against me." It’s great to see Serena back in her element. Although we don’t have any tutus to play in at Decathlon, you can check out our tennis dresses here, and we’ve got even more in store for the next season.
Serena wasn’t the only U.S. woman to make it to the round of 16. Still in the running are Sloane Stephens and Madison Keys. Two young Americans with the hope of making it to the final.
Federer Loses to Millman
For the men there were not too many upsets in the first week, but last night there was a major turn of events where second-seed Roger Federer lost to Australian John Millman (6-3, 5-7, 6-7, 6-7). It was clear that Federer was off his game in the intense heat of the stadium.
Hope for USA in the Finals
Luckily for us Americans, there is still one more U.S. male who has not been knocked out of the competition, eleventh-seed John Isner. We certainly hope to see a good match between him and Del Potro today. Meanwhile, Djokovic and Rafael Nadal have been breezing through their first few rounds of the Open and are both in the quarter-finals.
Nadal has been absolutely dominating this tennis season. The racket he plays with is a racket that is strikingly similar to our TR 900 Series Rackets (but ours are only half the price)! Starting at $92.90, there really is nothing to lose. Check them out here!
Decathlon Represented in the US Open
And of course we were proud to see our personal favorite, Oliver Marach make it to the quarterfinals in men’s doubles. He has been playing with Artengo by Decathlon’s Pro-Tennis Racket TR 990, which he specifically worked with the Artengo team to produce the concept for the technical design.
