News Americas, FLUSHING, NY, Fri. Aug. 30, 2013: Haitian American tennis star, Victoria Duval, was last night ousted from the 2013 U.S. Open, just two days after her major upset win over 2011 champ Samantha Stosur.
Duval, 17, who spent much of her childhood in Haiti, including time training at the JOTAC Tennis Academy in Port-au-Prince but was born in Bradenton, Florida, seemed to run out of steam last night. Gone were the backhand and nimble set of feet that helped her win over Stosur on Tuesday, August 27th.
On Thursday night, August 29th, she had to bow out gracefully out of just the second round of competition after losing to Daniela Hantuchova 6-2, 6-3.
Hantuchova exposed Duval’s biggest weakness, her serve. And with her forehand not as sharp as it was against Stosur, Duval looked always to be on the short end.
“I couldn’t quite get myself going tonight,” said Duval after the match. “I missed a couple of shots by a couple inches. I think those were the ones that ended up making the difference because I was in every game. But, you know, beating Sam in the first round, and feeling a little bit of expectations in the second round, that’s something I’m going to have to learn to adapt to.”
Still it’s been a pretty special U.S. Open for Duval, complete with media and fan attention, even if it lasted all of two matches and two days.
Meanwhile, in other tennis news, Roger Federer won his second match – 6-3, 6-2, 6-1 – over the 48th-ranked Argentine, Carlos Berlocqto Thursday, as he looks ahead to week two. The full assortment of Federer’s weapons were on display in Ashe Stadium: the trademark whipped crosscourt forehand; the elegantly rolled backhand pass; the chip-and-charge; the stab shoe-top volley; the perfectly placed serve; and the ridiculous touch. Federer checked off each, as though curious if each component was in good, working order.
“I was able to try out a few things, and I’m happy with the result,” he told ESPN’s Pam Shriver after the match.
Federer now has an astounding 50-1 record in second-round matches in majors; his lone loss was his surprising exit at Wimbledon this year to No. 116 Sergiy Stakhovsky.
And U.S. Open women’s champ, Serena Williams, took one step closer to a fifth title on Thursday with a dominating 6-3, 6-0 win over unseeded Galina Voskoboeva of Kazakhstan. The match, delayed by one day due to rain, was a slugfest from the start between two big hitters. Williams converted a service break at 2-2 to gain the early edge.
“Galina played really well, especially in the first set,” Williams commented after. “You can tell how much she’s improved, but overall I think I played pretty well, too.”
