US Open Glance: Williams tries to get 'Serena focus' back

Associated Press
Updated ·2 min read
Serena Williams, of the United States, reacts after beating Kristie Ahn, of the United States, during the first round of the US Open tennis championships, Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2020, in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

NEW YORK (AP) — A quick look at the U.S. Open:

LOOKAHEAD TO THURSDAY

Serena Williams plays her second-round match at the U.S. Open on Thursday still trying to find what she calls her “Serena focus.” She's coming off her best performance since tennis resumed amid the pandemic. Williams is 4-2 since tennis resumed after time off because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the first five of those matches went three sets as she struggled to find consistency. But her first-round win in New York came in straight sets. She'll get a chance to build momentum Thursday when she faces Margarita Gasparyan, who is ranked No. 117. Williams has won 23 Grand Slam singles titles, the most in the professional era and one shy of Margaret Court's mark of 24. She's won the U.S. Open six times and finished runner-up each of the last two years. Her opening win was her 102nd in the U.S. Open, breaking a tie with Chris Evert for most in the professional era, which started in 1968.

THURSDAY’S FORECAST

Cloudy. High of 89 degrees Fahrenheit (32 degrees Celsius) with a chance of rain late in the day.

WEDNESDAY’S WEATHER

Partly cloudy. High of 80 degrees Fahrenheit (27 degrees Celsius).

WEDNESDAY’S KEY RESULTS

Men’s first round: No. 1 Novak Djokovic beat Kyle Edmund 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-4, 6-2; No. 4 Stefanos Tsitsipas beat Maxime Cressy 7-6 (2), 6-3, 6-4; No. 5 Alexander Zverev beat Brandon Nakashima 7-5, 6-7 (8), 6-3, 6-1; No. 7 David Goffin beat Lloyd Harris 7-6 (6), 4-6, 6-1, 6-4; Mikhail Kukushkin beat No. 13 Cristian Garin 6-2, 6-1, 3-6, 4-6, 7-5.

Women’s first round: Caroline Garcia beat No. 1 Karolina Pliskova 6-1, 7-6 (2); No. 4 Noami Osaka beat Camila Giorgi 6-1, 6-2; No. 6 Petra Kvitova beat Kateryna Kozlova 7-6 (3), 6-2; No. 8 Petra Martic beat Kateryna Bondarenko 6-3, 6-4; Shelby Rogers beat No. 11 Elena Rybakina 7-6, 6-1; Aliaksandra Sasnovich beat No. 12 Marketa Vondrousova 6-1, 6-2; Ann Li beat No. 13 Alison Riske 6-0, 6-3; No. 17 Angelique Kerber beat Anna-Lena Friedsam 6-3, 7-6 (6).

STAT OF THE DAY

10-1 — Djokovic's record in tiebreakers in 2020 after losing one for the first time in his victory over Edmund. Another stat: Djokovic is 25-0 in matches this year.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

”I think because we are playing without the fans, everything is totally different. ... You know, sometimes you play unbelievable shot and there is just three (people) clapping, so, OK, it wasn’t that great." — Kvitova.

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