Simona Halep (click to enlarge)
After her 6-1 2-6 6-4 third round victory over Timea Babos at the 2016 US Open, there was a look on the faces of Simona Halep and her coach, Darren Cahill. I don’t know what they were thinking, but it sure seemed neither was pleased. Was it relief? Concern? Whatever it was, the #5 seed spent much of this match getting pushed around by the 31st seeded Babos. In the end, the Romanian star did what was needed to pull out the victory. However, up next is Carla Suarez Navarro, the 11th seed. I wouldn’t recommend Halepeno duplicate this performance against Carla if she wants to advance. As a fan, my dream final would be Madison Keys vs Simona Halep. However, both will need to improve on what they did in round 3 to have any chance of reaching the championship match.
Agnieszka Radwanska (click to enlarge)
I worried about 4th seed Agnieszka Radwanska playing a full week of matches at the 2016 Connecticut Open right before the 2016 US Open. So far, she hasn’t seemed tired as the Polish star took out 25th seed Caroline Garcia, 6-2 6-3. I have not heard a lot of buzz around Aga and perhaps that makes sense. The US Open is the only Major where the former Wimbledon finalist has not at least reached the quarterfinals. Her 4th round match with Ana Konjuh might be Radwanska’s best chance yet to reach the quarters at Flushing Meadow.
ALL PICS CLICK TO ENLARGE
4 AGNIESZKA RADWANSKA d. Caroline Garcia, 6-2 6-3
11 CARLA SUAREZ NAVARRO d. 19 Elena Vesnina, 6-4 6-3
1 SERENA WILLIAMS d. Johanna Larsson, 6-2 6-1
YAROSLAVA SHVEDOVA d. Shuai Zhang, 6-2 7-5
ANA KONJUH d. Varvara Lepchenko, 6-3 3-6 6-2
10 KAROLINA PLISKOVA d. 17 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, 6-2 6-4
6 VENUS WILLIAMS d. 26 Laura Siegemund, 6-1 6-2
5 SIMONA HALEP d. 31 Timea Babos, 6-1 2-6 6-4
Fairways and Forehands 