By Richard Pagliaro | Friday, August 2, 2019
NEW YORK—Midway through the second set, Naomi Osaka stormed forward belting a backhand into the corner with point-ending power.
Holding her ground in the corner, Belinda Bencic roped a backhand drive down the line that left the stunned world No. 1 staring vacantly as the ball blurred past on Arthur Ashe Stadium.
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Reading the court like a chessboard, Bencic was one move ahead and one shot sharper dethroning defending US Open champion Osaka, 7-5, 6-4, bursting into her first US Open quarterfinal since 2014.
“I was so excited to come on the court,” Bencic told ESPN’s Pam Shriver afterward. “The challenge cannot be bigger against Naomi. She’s a great player and won the US Open. I had to be at the top of my game.
“So I’m really pleased with how I played and how I managed my nerve at the end.”
One round after Osaka showed a champion's compassion and class consoling 15-year-old phenom Coco Gauff following a 6-3, 6-0 shellacking, the top seed looked flat and sometime reactive against nemesis Bencic.
Osaka, who played this tournament with a brace on her left knee after injuring it in Cincinnati last month, suggested the combination of lingering joint issues and Bencic's aggression were too much to overcome.
"I honestly didn't move well today," Osaka told the media afterward. "I felt like I was always flat-footed. Given that she's very aggressive, of course if you're surprised you would be on the back foot. But I have played her so many times that I'm not surprised at this point.
"I mean, the knee was a little bit annoying in the movement aspect, but I think that that's something I should have overcome in a way that I either should have started playing more aggressively or just, like, tried to, like, hit at a higher length."
Hugging the baseline and taking the two-time Grand Slam champion’s heavy drives on the rise, Bencic redirected the ball brilliantly scoring her third straight win over Osaka this season and snapping her 10-match Flushing Meadows winning streak.
The 22-year-old Swiss has Osaka’s number—she ended the 21-year-old Japanese baseliner’s Indian Wells reign in March—and this triumph will cost Osaka the top spot.
Second-ranked Ashleigh Barty, who bowed to Wang Qiang in the fourth round yesterday, will surpass Osaka and regain the top spot when the new WTA rankings are released next Monday.
Osaka’s departure, which came hours after men’s world No. 1 Novak Djokovic retired while trailing Stan Wawrinka by two sets last night, means both the defending men’s and women’s champions failed to reach the US Open quarterfinals for the second time in the last three years. In 2017, defending champions Angelique Kerber and Andy Murray both fell in the fourth round.
Top 10 seeds are endangered species in Flushing Meadows.
Eight of the Top 10 ladies seeds—Osaka, Barty, Karolina Pliskova, Simona Halep, Petra Kvitova, Kiki Bertens, Aryna Sabalenka and 2017 finalist Madison Keys—failed to survive the fourth round leaving Serena Williams and Elina Svitolina as the lone Top 10 seeds still standing.
The 13th-seeded Bencic will face buddy and sometime practice partner Donna Vekic for a spot in the final four.
A spirited Vekic saved match point down 4-5 in the second set fighting past Julia Goerges, 6-7(5), 7-5, 6-3, to charge into her first major quarterfinal in her 25th Grand Slam appearance.
It was a brutal loss for Goerges, who hit 21 aces, but committed three of her six double faults when serving for the quarterfinal.
Serving for her first US Open quarterfinal at 7-6, 5-4, the jittery German double faulted three times, slapped a shot into net on match point then was hit with a time violation warning facing a second break point.
Sweating so profusel, she rubbed drying cream on her palms, Goerges played a surprise serve-and-volley on a 79 mph second serve and bumped a backhand long as Vekic broke back for 5-all.
“I don’t even know how I won this match,” Vekic told Andrew Krasny. “She was serving for the match. She had match points. I just kept fighting and believing I could win.
“It feels pretty amazing to play in front of you guys and have such amazing support. I was just trying to get a return into the court. She was serving amazing today so that was tough. I was feeling confident in the rallies so I knew if I could get the return in, I’m in the advantage.”
An inability to consistently land her first serve at crunch time cost Goerges who littered a forehand wide of the sideline concluding her tight end to the second set.
A fist-pumping Vekic looked energized on the opposite side of the net inside steamy Armstrong Stadium. The 23rd-seeded Croatian her third break point breaking for 5-3 in the decider then dodged two break points closing in two hours, 43 minutes when Goerges bungled a smash.
Taught her strokes by Melanie Molitor, Martina Hingis’ mother and coach, Bencic fused Hingis-type timing, with shrewd strikes down the line and a bold backhand turning Osaka’s power against her.
“I think taking the serve earlier and trying to anticipate (were keys),” Bencic said. “Because she has a lot of power. Me, not so much. I’m not the player who does the most winners or the most aces. So I’m just trying to play it like chess on the court.”
Bencic’s backhand down the line was her check move as she broke to open on an Osaka double fault.
The top seed turned the tide by stepping in and smacking crosscourt drives with more ambition and authority. Osaka fired her fourth ace sealing the fifth game for her first lead of the day.
Early strikes and sharp angles distinguished Bencic on pivotal points today.
Deadlocked at 5-all, Bencic shifted into bold mode.
Opening the court with acute angle, the Swiss showed her net skills sliding a high forehand volley for break point. Luring the world No. 1 forward with a short return, Bencic banged a clean two-handed pass down the line snatching her second break and a 6-5 lead.
Snapping a slider serve out wide, Bencic served out the 47-minute opener at 30.
Facing the elite brings out Bencic’s best: She’d won seven of her last eight sets against top-ranked players.
Seeing Bencic burn her with the backhand down the line rattled Osaka who dumped a double fault to drop serve at love as the Swiss surged ahead 3-2.
The Australian Open champion took a medical evaluation in the ensuing changeover.
It couldn’t solve the problems posed by Bencic’s, whose skill straddling the baseline taking the ball on the rise unsettled Osaka.
Afterward, Osaka said she hopes to grow from this lesson.
"It's something I have learned over the summer that even if you aren't playing your best, you're going to play people who are going to play their best," Osaka said. "You have to figure out how to win those matches. And it's matches like that that are the most important, because it really tests your character. So I think on that side I have a lot of growing up to do."
Bencic backed up the break hamming the ball right down the middle for 4-2.
Serving for the quarterfinals, Bencic unleashed a biting serve down the middle then teed off on a forehand to close in one hour, 27 minutes.
Vekic was a 6-4, 6-1 victor over Bencic at Roland Garros last Spring and will try to fend off her friend for a trip to the final four.
"She’s a really good friend of mine," Vekic said of Bencic. "We practice together often. We know each other’s games really well. It’s gonna be a tough challenge. So I’m really looking forward to that one."