Tough enough
CoCo fights way into fourth round
If it looks easy, it isn’t CoCo Vandeweghe.
The No. 20 seed, and niece of NBA executive and former Knicks forward Kiki Vandeweghe, stumbled then surged past No. 10 Agnieszka Radwanska 7-5, 4-6, 6-4 for a third-round win at Arthur Ashe Stadium on Saturday afternoon. Vandeweghe narrowly avoided losing her composure as she continues her stellar run at Grand Slams this year.
Vandeweghe will face Lucie Safarova, a 6-3, 6-2 winner over Kurunmi Nara.
There was no glitz or glamour in the mid-afternoon match, but that is the way Vandeweghe plays.
“Sorry I gave a few gray hairs and a few heart attacks,” Vandeweghe said during her on-court interview after the match. “But I’m doing my best out here.”
In the past, Vandeweghe’s overly aggressive style would bury her, but under new coach Pat Cash, she has started to pick moments in matches where it makes sense to go all in.
In the first set Saturday, she fell into an early 2-0 hole but channeled her frustration and head-shaking antics to aggression on the court.
Despite 22 unforced errors, she settled and overpowered Radwanska en route to a first-set victory.
But throughout, Radwanska stayed afloat by saving three set points that caused Vandeweghe to explode, viciously throwing her racket down.
What seemed like a moment that could haunt her became a turning point. Vandeweghe’s swagger and expressive style returned.
In the final game of the first set, Vandeweghe hopped off the court, wagging her finger and mouthing “no chance” after Radwanska challenged her long backhand return on set point — CoCo was right.
“Aga is a difficult opponent for me,” Vandeweghe said. “I think for anyone really. And she poses a lot of problems. She gets a lot of balls back. She hits a lot of tricky shots.”