After Serena, the show must go on
‘‘I got a little, like, sentimental, too, watching her, how emotional she was getting.’’ Jessica Pegula on Serena Williams
Much like for so many other folks, Serena Williams’ last match at the US Open was must-see TV for players still in the tournament, so Jessica Pegula and Petra Kvitova tuned in from their hotel rooms the night before their victories led off yesterday’s schedule and set up a fourth-round showdown.
‘‘Of course I watched Serena. I’m like everyone else,’’ said Pegula, a 28-year-old American who is seeded No 8 in New York and beat qualifier Yuan Yue 6-2 6-7 (6) 6-0. ‘‘You feel kind of sad that’s how it ends. But, I don’t know, like I got a little, like, sentimental, too, watching her, how emotional she was getting.’’
Kvitova, a twotime Wimbledon champion from the Czech Republic, credited Williams’ last stand – the owner of 23 grand slam titles bowed out in three sets against Ajla Tomljanovic in what is expected to be her final contest – with offering inspiration.
‘‘It was very special. She didn’t want to leave the court, for sure. That was the same case with me today, actually. I didn’t want to go out of this tournament, so I was just there hanging [in], somehow,’’ said Kvitova, who erased deficit after deficit, including a pair of match points, to edge Garbine Muguruza 5-7 6-3 7-6 (12-10).
‘‘That’s what Serena showed,’’ said Kvitova, who dropped her racket and covered her face with her hands when what she called a ‘‘nightmare’’ of a tiebreaker was over.
‘‘It was nice to see her yesterday, fighting until the end.’’
Yes, Williams is gone, leaving the year’s last major tournament – and, in some ways, the sport as a whole – without its biggest star and storyline. Still, the show must go on.
So there was Kvitova, undaunted as ever, despite dropping the first set, despite trailing 5-2 in the third, despite being a point from defeat twice at 6-5.
‘‘Left everything on the court today,’’ said No 9 Muguruza, a two-time slam winner whose departure means the bracket was without six of the top 10 women before the third round was even done.
Top seed Iga Swiatek moved into the fourth round by beating Lauren Davis 6-3 6-4.
During the night session in Ashe, 22-time major champion Rafael Nadal improved his career mark against Richard Gasquet to 18-0 with a 6-0 6-1 7-5 victory. Nadal won the opening nine games as he improved to 22-0 in grand slam matches in 2022.
Nadal did not have stitches or a bandage on his nose, two days after accidentally cutting it with his racket during his previous victory.
‘‘A little bit bigger than usual, but it’s OK,’’ he said with a smile. ‘‘The nose is still there.’’