The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
France’s Garcia stuns women’s top seed Pliskova at U.S. Open
NEW YORK — French world No. 50 Caroline Garcia sent U.S. Open top seed Karolina Pliskova packing Wednesday with a convincing 6-1, 7-6 (7-2) victory in the second round, while Novak Djokovic extended his undefeated run this season with a win over Kyle Edmund.
Garcia struck 30 winners against just 17 unforced errors and had great success at the net as she delivered the biggest upset of the tournament so far.
“I was ready for a good match. I knew I had to go for it and believe and be very aggressive, and that’s what I did,” said Garcia, who beat a top-20 player at a Grand Slam for just the second time in her career.
The pair entered their clash having split their previous six against one another. Garcia enjoyed a sensational start, racing to a 5-0 advantage over the world No. 3.
Pliskova finally got on the board in game six but Garcia took a commanding one-set lead in just over 30 minutes. Pliskova hit one single winner in the opening set and won just seven points on serve. Garcia kept up the pressure, firing winners from all corners of the court as she picked up her eighth game from the first nine of the match.
Down 2-4, 15-30 in the second set, Pliskova grabbed 13 of the next 14 points and won four games in row to get back on serve. Still, Garcia kept her cool in the tiebreak to set up a third round against U.S. 28th seed Jennifer Brady.
Djokovic dropped his first tiebreak of the year but rebounded to overcome a stiff challenge from Edmund and make the third round. The world No. 1 extended his undefeated run this season to 25-0 with a 6-7 (5-7), 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 win over Edmund. Djokovic will next take on German 28th seed Jan-Lennard Struff.
Edmund took a marathon 82-minute first set on an ace that secured him the tiebreak. It was just the ninth set Djokovic has dropped this year and the first tiebreak he lost from 11 contested in 2020. The three-time champion responded well by taking the next three sets and wrapped up the victory in 3 hours, 13 minutes.
Fifth seed Alexander Zverev reached the third round for a third consecutive year by beating Californian Brandon Nakashima 7-5, 6-7 (8-10), 6-3, 6-1. Zverev will tackle French 32nd seed Adrian Mannarino in the last 32. Czech star Petra Kvitova, the sixth seed, moved past Ukrainian Kateryna Kozlova 7-6 (7-3), 6-2 to book a third round against American Jessica Pegula.
French world No. 44 Kristina Mladenovic suffered a collapse in her second round against Varvara Gracheva. Mladenovic, one of the players confined to what they are describing as a “bubble in the bubble” after coming in close contact with COVID-19 patient Benoit Paire, led the Russian 6-1, 5-1, and held four match points at 6-1, 5-2, but ended up losing 1-6, 7-6 (7-2), 6-0.
Former champion Angelique Kerber beat fellow German AnnaLena Friedsam 6-3, 7-6 (8-6) and next plays 20-year-old American Ann Li, a surprise 6-0, 6-3 winner over 13th seed Alison Riske.