All four quarter-finalists in the bottom half of the women’s draw at the 2022 US Open are making their maiden appearance at this stage of the Slam.
In the last match of the day, Ons Jabeur defeated Veronika Kudermetova 7-6(1), 6-4 in their round-of-16 clash. The Tunisian, the fifth seed this fortnight, needed an hour and 33 minutes to get past her 18th-seeded opponent.
Kudermetova led 5-3 in the opening set before Jabeur effectuated a comeback. The opening set tie-break saw the 28-year-old quickly raise six set points before Kudermetova struck a winner in an attempt to bridge the gap between Jabeur and her. However, it was far too late for her as Jabeur clinched the set on the next point. The second set saw Jabeur go up an early break and maintain it long enough to serve for the match in the ninth game. However, she was broken back and Kudermetova had a chance to level the set at five-all on her serve in the 10th game. On the contrary, it was Jabeur who had three match points and who went on to convert on the first of these.
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Looking to reach the semi-finals, Jabeur will play Ajla Tomljanovic. The Australian who pipped Serena Williams in a valiant contest in the third round took down Liudmila Samsonova showing similar tenacity. Tomljanovic needed an hour and 57 minutes to secure a 7-6(8), 6-1 win for herself.
The opening set saw both players engage in a battle of wills and in which, Samsonova had eight set points. Tomljanovic, however, saved all before taking the lead in the proceedings. In the second set, Samsonova looked to be fatigued emotionally and mentally although she didn’t stop trying. On the other hand, Tomljanovic went from strength to strength and eventually secured the win on her serve in the seventh game.
Meanwhile, Coco Gauff and Caroline Garcia set up a quarter-final clash against each other.
Gauff beat Shuai Zhang 7-5, 7-5 in an hour and 56 minutes in their fourth-round match. Gauff had 33 winners to Zhang’s 26 and 25 unforced errors to the latter’s 29.
Lastly, the 17th-seeded Caroline Garcia ousted the 29th-seeded Alison Riske-Amritraj 6-4, 6-1 in their fourth-round match. The Frenchwoman needed an hour and 22 minutes to wrap up the win. The 2022 US Open quarter-final’s the second Major quarter-final of the 28-year-old’s career. The only other time she reached a Grand Slam quarter-final was at the French Open in 2017.
Photo Credit: USTA