Jordan Thompson is set to collect his biggest US Open cheque - and he's not done yet
New York: Australia's Jordan Thompson has moved to the third round of the US Open, overcoming Belarusian Egor Gerasimov in four sets at Flushing Meadows on Wednesday.
Thompson, one of four Australian men remaining in the tournament, won 6-1 6-4 3-6 6-3. It is his first venture into the third round here, and equal to his best grand slam result: he made the third round of the 2019 French Open.
Jordan Thompson has won his second round match in New York.Credit:Getty Images
Alex De Minaur, John Millman and Chris O'Connell play their second-round matches on Thursday.
In the women's draw, Czech Petra Kvitova overcame a bout of nerves and a rocky start to defeat Kateryna Kozlova 7-6(3) 6-2 in the second-round.
Sixth seed Kvitova was off her game early on, committing 20 unforced errors during the first set - twice as many as her Ukrainian opponent - as she struggled with her serve.
"I was really fighting a little bit (with) the opponent but with myself as well. There was a lot of nerves over there," the 30-year-old said. "So I was really fighting and, you know, was really tight, and I made some easy mistakes."
The twice Wimbledon champion committed a fifth double fault to hand Kozlova a break point and a 3-2 lead in the first set but recovered to save set point at 5-4 and eventually took the opener on a tiebreak.
She got back on track in the second set to break Kozlova's serve in the first game before firing off consecutive aces and a pair of winners en route to a 2-0 lead.
A relieved Kvitova, who dropped only one point on serve in the second set, wrapped up victory with a powerful serve that a beleaguered Kozlova was unable to return.
Kvitova, who reached the quarter-finals of the Australian Open in January, said that winning the tiebreak and getting the break at the start of the second set helped her relax.
"In the second set I think I really played a good one. I served much better. You know, I was hitting clearly not that many mistakes," she said.
The world number 12 has had little match practice since the sport returned from its lengthy suspension due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
After a first-round bye, she lost in the second round of last month's Western & Southern Open, for which Flushing Meadows served as temporary host this year.
The 17th-seeded Angelique Kerber moved into the third round Wednesday with a solid showing that brought some much-needed confidence, with a 6-3, 7-6 (6) victory over Anna-Lena Friedsam.
SMH, Reuters
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