Barbora Krejcikova, of the Czech Republic, returns a shot to Elena-Gabriela Ruse, of Romania, during the second round of the U.S. Open tennis championships, on August 28, 2024, in New York
| Photo Credit: AP
Frances Tiafoe is getting the rematch he wants, a second shot at Ben Shelton at the U.S. Open. But there won’t be a second straight Grand Slam title for Barbora Krejcikova.
The Wimbledon champion was knocked out of the U.S. Open in the second round on Wednesday, defeated by Elena-Gabriela Ruse 6-4, 7-5.
The No. 8-seeded Krejcikova won her second Grand Slam singles title this summer, but then she didn’t play any matches after the Paris Olympics. She acknowledged last week not knowing where her level of play was. Turns out, it wasn’t good enough.
“I mean, winning Wimbledon is amazing. It’s a great, great, great result, I’m very proud about it and how I was able to handle everything there,” said Krejcikova, who hadn’t played a tournament on hard courts since February.
“I think I was playing quite well, definitely better than in the first match. I think my game was improving, but it just wasn’t enough.”
No woman has won Wimbledon and the U.S. Open in the same year since Serena Williams in 2012.
Hottest day
Tiafoe had short work on the steamiest day of the tournament thus far, with temperatures in New York surpassing 90 degrees Fahrenheit (32 degrees Celsius). Three men’s matches ended when an opponent stopped playing, the last one sending defending champion Novak Djokovic to the third round when Laslo Djere retired early in the third set with what appeared to be pain near his hip after they played for more than two hours across the first two sets.
“You know, in the end, not the kind of finish that we players or crowd wants to see, but I think it’s probably due to that physical battle that we had in the opening two sets,” the No. 2-seeded Djokovic said.
Tiafoe, the No. 20 seed, won the first two sets before his opponent, Alexander Shevchenko, retired after the first game of the third set.
Shelton, the No. 13 seed, later beat Roberto Bautista Agut 6-3, 6-4, 6-4. He ousted Tiafoe last year in the quarterfinals, stopping Tiafoe from what would have been a second straight trip to the U.S. Open semifinals.
“Obviously he’s very much like me in how excited and energetic he is on the court,” Tiafoe said, “and has such a big game and big shots and serves big and gets the crowd going.”
Well, maybe not quite as well as Tiafoe does.
“I know…