NEW YORK — Latvia’s Anastasija Sevastova is the last remaining Balt in the U.S. Open after she managed to make it past the first round of the singles, while compatriot Ernests Gulbis and Estonia’s Kaia Kanepi both succumbed to losses.
While most eyes were on Gulbis and Kanepi, it was Sevastova who slipped under the radar to advance to the second-round of the competition.
Sevastova, who is currently ranked 96th in the world took just over an hour and a half to dispose of world number-90 Tamarine Tansugarn of Thailand with a straight sets victory 6-3, 7-5.
This year’s U.S. Open is the third consecutive grand-slam the Latvian has appeared in, but the first time she has advanced past the first round. She will now meet sixth seed Svetlana Kuznetsova in the second round after the Russian cruised through her first round match up against German Julia Georges 6-3, 6-2.
With Georges ranked in a similar place in the world to Sevastova, she will have to deliver a much stronger performance if she is to beat Kuznetsova.
The Gull falls from the sky
In a year that he would rather forget, The Gull again exited a tournament in the early stages, going down to number two seed Andy Murray of Scotland in straight sets, 5-7, 3-6, 5-7. After being broken by Murray early in the first set, Gulbis broke back soon after to set the first set up for a tight finish. Down 5-6, Gulbis managed to save three set-points, mesmerizing the center-court crowd before throwing away his hard work by hitting a regulation forehand volley into the net.
Despite his talent, The Gull failed to make it past his tough first-round opponent Andy Murray at the U.S. Open in New York. Photo by Charlie Cowins.
Leading 4-1 in the second, Murray looked as though he would cruise to victory before Gulbis fought back only for Murray to lift his game and clinch the set 6-3. In the third and what would prove to be the final set, Gulbis and Murray were sitting neck and neck at 5-games apiece.
With The Gull serving, Murray took a fall close to the net, which lead to a number of exasperated gasps from the audience. But he appeared uninjured and recovered to break Gulbis and hold his own serve to take the set 7-5. Again Gulbis showed moments of brilliance but too many erratic shots were his undoing with the Latvian committing 51 unforced errors compared to Murray’s 21.
The fact that The Gull managed to hit more straight winners (46) than Murray (33) would suggest that if he can rid his game of concentration lapses then there would be no reason the 21-year-old could not push into the men’s top 40.
The highest ranked Balt playing in the singles draw this year was Estonian Kanepi. In what should have been a regulation first round match for the women’s 25th seed, Kanepi was completely outplayed by Chinese-Taipei qualifier Kai-Chen Chang.
Ranked some 185 places behind Kanepi in the current world rankings, it was the first grand-slam Chang had qualified to play in. Kanepi was no match for Chang in the first set succumbing 6-0. Some order was restored in the second with Kanepi cruising to a 6-2 lead, a result that was then reversed in the third as the Estonian went down by the same score to be ousted 0-6, 6-2, 2-6.
Ultimately, it was Kanepi’s first serve which failed her as she only managed a 35 percent conversion rate. She will be hoping for a much better result when she kicks off her women’s doubles campaign later this week with compatriot Maret Ani and mixed-doubles with Slovak Michal Mertiňák.
