That’s us for the day, but before we part ways, some updates: Riedi has come from two sets down to beat Cerundolo, the no 19 seed, in five; Khachanov, hauled back from two sets up, now leads Majchrzak 4-1 in the fifth; and Cirstea broke Muchova to love for 6-7 6-5, but is now down 0-30. Otherwise, though, thanks all for your company, and we’ll be back for you tomorrow. Peace.
Sinner is happy. He says neither of them served well but he returned really well, especially facing a second delivery. Otherwise, asked where he eats, because we really need to know there are places he won’t name, he says he’s got a rotation, thanks fans for their support, and off he toddles.
We’ll do the interview, but before that, let me let you know that Muchova broke Cirsteaback to lead 7-6 5-5 … but now trails 0-40.
Jannik Sinner (1) beats Alexei Popyrin 6-3 6-2 6-2
Sinner is just too good for the first week now. Popyrin played well whereas he only played OK, and still dispensed a kicking. Next for him Shapovalov, who’s just beaten Royer in four.
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Muchova holds serve; can Cirstea hold nerve? On Ashe, Sinner breaks through advantage for 5-2, sealing the deal with a booming forehand, and after a little sit-down, he’ll serve for the match.
On Armstrong, Venus is playing dubs with Leylah Fernandez; they’re down 5-6, on serve to, Kichenok and Perez, the no 6 seeds. Elsewhere, Shapovalov is up 2-1 and a break at 5-3 in the third against Royer, while Muchova is serving at 7-6 3-5 against Cirstea.
I dissed Sinner rig, so it’s only fair I praise Popyrin’s. It’s not perfect, but it is reminiscent of Lendl’s mid-80s gear and the shorts are a lovely shade of cyan. He holds to trail 0-2 2-3.
Majchrzak does indeed serve out so he and Khachanov will now play a fifth set, but no such struggle for Sinner, who nails a drop-lob combo, eliciting applause from Popyrin. The champ leads 3-1 and by two sets to love.
Cobolli now leads Brooksby 2-1 2-1, his class telling – which isn’t to say Brooksby has none, he does. But the Italian has top-10 potential, which is why I expect him to see this match out from here.
We saw it last set and we’ve seen it again: Popyrin almost breaks, doesn’t, then Sinner does. Meantime, there’s a decent tussle going on on 11 where Majchrzak, previously two sets down to Khachanov, is now serving to earn a fifth.
Muchova saves double-break point with an ace, while Popyrin goes again, making 15-40, only to net a forehand at the end of a long rally. From there, Sinner closes out, to lead 6-3 6-2 1-1.
Yup, Sinner closes out to lead 6-3 6-2 and Popyrin knows he’s beaten. Cirstea, though, has rebounded well from the disappointment of a breaker-bagel, now up 2-1 in the second after taking the Muchova serve.
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And that’s exactly what happens: that last game broke his heart. Sinner will now serve for a two-set lead at 6-3 5-2, and the chances of him failing so to do are extremely remote.
Sinner saves three break points and, though he’s struggling to land his first serves, he still holds to lead 6-3 4-2. Popyrin, who gave that game everything, will be wondering what he has to do, and I’d not be surprised were he now broken himself.
Gosh, Cirstea will be feeling poorly. All that work she put into the set is for nothing, as Muchova takes the breaker 7-0. It’s a long way back from here.
On Grandstand, we’re playing a breaker, Muchova rushing to a 3-0 lead before playing a terrific point, a brilliant get followed by a brilliant get-volley for 40. Meanwhile, Sinner nails a first serve that helps him save break point then, facing another, wallops a forehand on to the sideline. He is quite good at tennis.
Marta Kostyuk (27) beats Zeynep Sonmez 7-5 (5)67 6-3
Next for her: Zarazua or Parry.
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Up 5-4 but down 30-40, Muchova twinkles into a backhand down the line and caresses a winner for deuce. For all the good it does her. Cirstea breaks anyway and we’re back on serve at 55 in the first.
Yeah, Sinner is just too good for Popyrin, breaking him to love for a 6-2 2-1 lead. He’s at that point Federer reached in the middle of noughties, where if Nadal didn’t beat him, no one did. And on hard, he’s got the edge over Alcaraz,
Out on court 11, Majchrzak has taken the third set to trail Khachanov 1-2; Royer and Shapovalov are level at 1-1 5-5, in a match that could go on for quite some time, while Riedi has pulled back a set to trail Cerundoilo 1-2.
Muchova has settled, breaking Cirstea back, and she then saves a break point to make 4-4. She’s not yet hit the heights she managed prior to her wrist surgery, but if she does, she’s a threat in any tournament on any surface.
On Ashe, Sinner is serving for set one at 5-3 while, on Grandstand, Cirstea leads Muchova 4-2. I’m going to watch a bit of that, but may soon move to 17, where Cobolli has come from a break down to level against Brooksby at a set apiece. And in the time it takes me to write all that, Sinner holds for a 6-3 lead before calling the trainer to address taping on his right foot.
Playing like that, Osaka is a serious threat to win here. Look how strong she looks in the pic below – it really doesn’t lie – and her confidence in her body and her self was palpable not just in how she played but in that interview though, as we saw with Swiatek earlier, that can easily be lost.
“I have to think that they didn’t give Sinner the rust-colored outfit in Paris,” says Amy C. Buondonno, “because he’d have blended in with the clay and no one would have seen the Nike swoosh.”
Ha, it’d be like playing the Invisible Man. Or a chameleon.
Osaka says she was “really stressed the entire time”, saying they played in Miami and it was one of her hardest matches this year. Told she looks fit, she shouts out her fitness coach, reckons she’s moving well, and feels healthy.
Otherwise, she adds that her coach helps her see tennis differently, then takes us through her outfit, a terrific shade of mauve – think Jayne Torvil doing Bolero – and her trainers, before showing off her Labubu, “Arthur Flashe”.
She seems really happy and relaxed; it’s great to see.
Naomi Osaka (23) beats Hailey Baptiste 6-3 6-1
Osaka was really solid there, serving well, hitting it hard and looking locked in. Next for her: Rakhimova or Ksatkina.
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Osaka is looking really strong – perhaps title-winning strong – and at 6-3 5-1 30-40 she has match point.
Baptiste nails a forehand to save a double-break point, but Osaka breaks her anyway, and at 6-3 4-1, this match is surely over. Elsewhere, Sinner has just played a ludicrous reflex-forehand to go up 4-1 over Popyrin and, though he’s known as a percentage hitter, he’s got game too.
Why do Nike put Sinner in such distasteful attire? In Paris, he looked like Luigi; here, he’s resplendent in rust. Popyrin holds to get on the board at 1-3.
Muchova and Cirstea are away on Grandstand, while on 17, Brooksby is all over Cobolli, now up 7-5 2-0; Popyrin, meanwhile, has just saved two double-break points at 0-3.
I’d hoped Baptiste would give Osaka a proper test, but the 2018 and 2020 champ knows a bit too much, breaking for 6-2 1-0. Meantime we’re away on Ashe, Sinner holding for 1-0, but Popyrin is as live a dog as anyone can be against so brilliant an opponent – he beat Djokovic in this competition last term and also won the Masters 1000 title in Montreal. It’s hard to see how he can win, but his best performance makes a match of it. However at 0-1 he’s down break point, and with Sinner simply prolonging the rally, as he told us he did on championship point last, he tamely nets a backhand.
Osaka has taken the first set off Baptise to lead 6-3; Brooksby is serving for the first against Cobolli at 6-5; Cerundolo leads Riedi 6-3 6-4 1-0 with a break; Shapovalov and Royer are level at a set apiece; and Khachanov leads Majchrzak 6-2 7-6.
Rublev says he was a bit lucky as Boyer started to play well, then asked about Marat Safin, now part of his team, says he needs the help – and, let’s be real, if trying to take tennis a bit less seriously is something he should do, he could scarcely have found a better role model. Talking of which, asked also about the modelling he’s done recently, he notes that he tried it a bit when he was younger and finds it very natural; he doesn’t have to act.
It’s so interesting hearing sportsfolk talk about what they do. Sky just showed a little bit with Sinner, asking him about match point in the final last year, and he said he just tried to keep it simple, no risks, because one mistake and Fritz was finished. It doesn’t sound like much, but it’s easy to overcomplicate, especially in the maelstrom of the moment, and the ability to think with such clarity is one of the many things that makes a champion a champion.
Andrey Rublev (15) beats Tristan Boyer 6-3 6-3 5-7 7-6(4)
Boyer made more of a match of that than seemed likely in sets one and two, but it’s Rublev who progresses. Next for him: Walton or Wong.
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After two huge points won, Rublev seizes the advantage, taking the mini-break for 5-3, and he’s two points away from round three.
Oh wow, a fantastic backhand winner down the line rescues Rublev when Boyer looks set to take the min-break and they’re level at 303; an ace follows. Back on Armstrong, Osaka has broken Baptiste again for 5-2, while Cobolli has broken Brooksby back for 5-5 in the first, their match one that feels like an epic.
Back to Boyer v Rublev where somehow, they’re playing a fourth-set breaker; the no 15 seed leads 2-1, no min-break.
Next on Ashe: Jannik Sinner (1) v Alexei Popyrin.
Swiatek says she made some mistakes but is happy with how she served in set three and glad she won. Though her opponent played well, how she does is dependent on her and though she got a bit tight in set two, the third was a reset and she tried to be more precise, which she was.
Lamens played really well after the first set, and will rue double faults at particularly inopportune times. That, though, is pressure, and ultimately Swiatek handled it better.
Iga Swiatek (2) beats Suzan Lamens 6-1 4-6 6-4
She seals it with an ace and meets Kalinskaya next. She’ll need to play much better than she did today if she’s to go deep, but we can almost certain she will.
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A decent first serve, a backhand down the line and an overhead make 30-0 and Swiatek is two points away, then Lamens swats wide, and this is nearly done. It’s been a struggle but she’ll be the better for it … and, as I type, she sends down a double.
Osaka saves a break point in game one, then breaks Baptiste in game two, before having a point taken off for sliding into the net – you don’t see many of those – and is subsequently broken back. Meantime, Lamens comes back to 30-all from 0-30, and though Swiatek then sets up match point, she plays a decent rally for deuce and secures her hold. At 4-5 in the third, she forces the Wimbledon champ to serve out.
Swiatek holds to 15 from 0-15 and celebrates by striking the kind of pose Bruce Forsyth made famous. At 5-3 in the third, she’s a game away.
On Armstrong, Baptiste and Swiatek are out; I’m going to celebrate with a Fruit pastilles ice lolly and switch over to watch. Otherwise, Swiatek leads Lamens 4-3 in the third, still with a break; Boyer has broken Rublev back and now leads 3-2 in the fourth, trailing 2-1 in sets; Brooksby leads Cobolli 3-2 with a break; Cerundolo leads Riedi 6-3 2-1 with a break; Frech and Stearns are 2-2; Shapovalov leads Royer 7-6; Wong leads Walton 7-6 6-2 4-6 1-2; Khachanov leads Majchrzak 6-2 3-4; and Kostyuk lesads Sonmez 7-5.
In comms, they note that in set two, Swiatek was trying to wallop her forehand, but has taken pace off since, which makes sense. She tried to hot Noskova off the court when she lost in Australia, playing her opponent’s game not her own, but is now trying to do her thing and, as I type, a big double from Lamens hands over another break. At 4-1 in the third, that probably settles things.
Down break-back point, Rublev finds an ace down the T, then another to make advantage … only to net a forehand. No matter, from there he closes out to endorse the break and leads 2-1 2-0. Back on Ashe, Swiatek now leads 3-1 in the decider, and I’m almost as interested to hear her reflections post-match than I am to see how the rest of it unfolds.
Before I even get there, Rublev breaks Boyer for 2-1 1-0, while consecutive doubles from Lamens take Swiatek from game-point down to break-point up. A good return then forces the error and the Wimbledon champ leads 2-1 in the third.
Back on Grandstand, Boyer, who looked totally outmatched in the time I was watching, has sneaked the third set to trail Rublev 3-6 3-6 7-5. I guess I’m switching off Brooksby 1-1 Cobolli to return there.
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Lorenzo Musetti (10) beats David Goffin 6-4 6-0 6-2
Pretty straightforward for Musetti, who meets Brooksby or Cobolli next. If it’s the latter, we’re in for a lot of fun.
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Lamens races in to sweep a winner cross-court for 30-all, but a big serve raises game point, then another secures it. Two decent deliveries under pressure will give Swiatek a little bit of confidence, but she doesn’t look happy at 6-1 4-6 1-1.
Lamens looks so confident out there now, holding to 15 in the decider. I’d still expect Swiatek to find a way to win – I’m reminded of her win against Osaka in Paris the year before last, a match she really should have lost – but her rivals will be enjoying what they’re seeing. I guess, though, that Sabalenka and Gauff are also prone to dips and doubt, which reminds of what we were saying below: we all are.
It’s a funny thing, really: confidence is so hard to get and easy to lose, even if you won Wimbledon not even two months ago. And if that’s so for elite tennisers, we can understand why, in different walks of life, it’s similar for the rest of us too.
And she nails her return, then Swiatek nets! I was going to say we’re getting a decider out of nowhere, but that’s not accurate: Lames has gradually played her way into this match while, courtside, Laura Robson reckons Swiatek is taking her racket back a little late so is meeting the ball a little late. Lamens leaves the court, so she’s a few minutes to sort herself.
Oh wow! Lamens makes 15-4 on the Swiatek serve and has two set points at 1-6 5-4!
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Well that didn’t last long. Musetti breaks Goffin back to lead 6-4 6-0 2-2, so I’m going to switch to Brooksby v Cobolli.
Let’s go around the courts. Rublev leads Boyer 6-3 6-3 4-5; Cerudolo leads Riedi 3-1; Wong leads Walton 7-6 6-2 2-3; Khachanov leads Majchrzak 4-2; and Kostyuk leads Sonmez 3-1.
What on earth is going on with the umpire-issue trainers? So many good ones in the world, and yet.
After looking so dominant and confident, Swiatek is wobbling. Lamens is, as we said, starting to enjoy herself, but Iga also looks a little rattled; let’s see how she moves on from here, but for now she leads 6-1 4-4.
Musetti has taken the second set via bagel to lead Goffin 2-0, but he’s now 0-2 down in set three. I guess I’ll visit with them now to see if the wily veteran can build.
In interview, Haddad Maia talks about mental strength immediately, which reminds me a bit of when Arsène Wenger used to speak about his Arsenal team, unwittingly revealing his fear by trying to manifest one of their biggest weaknesses. Otherwise, she’s happy with her performance today and enjoyed the support she got from the crowd – though when asked about Guga Kuerten, she’s very clear she compares herself neither to him nor Maria Bueno, she just hopes to bring a bit of joy to people who deserve it.
While that was going on, Swiatek broke Lamens. She now leads 6-1 4-3.
Beatriz Haddad Maia (18) beats Viktorija Golubic 6-1 6-4
Next for her: Sakkari. That is going to be a blast.
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Yeah, Bia will be Bia. Serving for the match at 6-1 5-4, she’s soon reasoning with herself, down 15-40, but big forehands save the first break point, then a weak first serve, 63mph, invites Golubic into the rally, but a netted slice takes her to deuce. This tactic of getting the ball into play might work against this level of opposition, but the better players will take it apart.
Ekaterina Alexandrova (13) beats Wang Xinyu 6-2 6-2
Next for her: Zakharova or Siegmund.
Anna Kalinskaya (29) beats Yulia Putintseva 6-1 7-5
Next for her: Lamens or Swiatek.
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Hold tight Suzan Lamens! She not only breaks-back Swiatek to love, but seals is with a glorious lob. She’s starting to enjoy herself a bit now, good for her, good for us and, in a way, also good for the world no 2, who could use a challenge to get her going for later in the competition.
The crowd, of course, are behind Bia, Brazilians turning out as they often do. Jelena Ostapenko didn’t love all that when the two met in March, though of course she expressed her feelings with typical levity and charm.
Jelena Ostapenko calling the crowd disrespectful and then smiling at them right after is such a mood.
— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) March 25, 2023
This woman can do no wrong. pic.twitter.com/eVFhaEyKln
As in set one, Swiatek breaks Lamens early to lead 6-1 2-1. Out on Stadium 17, meantime, Haddad Maia has just ended a 26-shot rally with a gorgeous pass down the line – he control is beautiful, not words I’ve frequently written about her. She holds for 6-1 5-3, and is a game away.
I was going to watch Musetti v Goffin, but at 6-4 4-0, that too feels almost over. I think I’ll go for Brooksby v Cobolli – they’re on after Haddad Maia and Golubic.
Maria Sakkari beats Anna Bondar 6-3 6-1
Next for her: Haddad Maia or Golubic, the Brazilian leading 6-1 4-3.
Rublev secures a second 6-3 set against Boyer. I’m going to find a different match to watch on my second screen.
Maria Sakkari is almost home, up 6-3 4-1 on Bondar. I’m interested to see how she does here – she beat Toljanovic in round one, not easily done, and gave Paolini trouble in Cincy, losing 6 and 6. She lacks the power to beat the best, I think, but if she can keep herself calm in big moments, she’s a really good player.
Linda Noskova (21) beats Eva Lys 6-4 3-0 retired
Noskova is a talent – only 20, she beat Swiatek, admittedly out of form, in Melbourne. Next for her: Cirstea or Muchova.
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Shonuff, Swiatek swiftly serves out a 6-1 set, and she’s playing like the best in the world. So, though, is Sabalenka.
Lamens has no answer to Swiatek’s relentless thwacking and precision. She’s sticking in rallies, but all that’s achieving is tiredness; she’s broken again for 1-5, and the first set is nearly gone.
Unsurprisingly, Rublev breaks Boyer to win his third straight game; he now leads 6-3 3-1. Elsewhere, Musetti has just broken Goffin to secure a 6-4 set, while Haddad Maia is up a break in set, leading Golubic 6-1 2-1; Noskova leads Lys 6-4 1-0; Sakkari leads Bondar 6-3 3-0; Wong leads Walton 7-6; Alexandrova leads Wang 6-2 4-2; and Kalinskaya leads Putintseva 6-1 2-4.
Swiatek quickly raises a point for a double break, only to cuff a forehand wide. From there, Lamens toughs out the hold, and you can imagine how much Iga enjoys that. Her intensity could power a small village, and it’s so great to see her back having at it – she looks a totally different player to the one we saw at the start of the year.
Boyer can only take so much; you can’t allow a player of Rublev’s class four breaking opportunities and expect him not to take one of them, and that’s exactly what he does. A swift hold follows, the lead now 6-3 2-1.
Goffin has broken back against Musetti and they’re now 4-4 in set one. On Grandstand, Rublev is giving Boyer all he can handle, forcing break points that he can’t quite convert. Oh, and Swiatek survives break point to lead Lamens 3-0, I don’t imagine this match will detain us all that long.
Also a set up are Sakkari, 6-3 against Bondar; Alexandrova, 6-2 1-1 against Wang; and Kalinskaya, 6-1 1-1 against Putitnseva. Meanwhile, Swiatek breaks Lamens for 2-0, already looking monstrous; it’ll take something significant to beat her here, but both Gauff, her potential semi-final opponent, and Sabalenka, the defending champ and no 1 seed, are capable of that.
Rublev takes his eye off the ball and, against a player who didn’t look able to hurt him in set one, is broken at the start of two having made careless unforced errors. If Boyer can consolidate, he’s in business.
Elsewhere, Haddad Maia has taken the first set 6-1 against Golubic. She’s one I thought and hoped might go on – she’s got such easy, lefty power, so I wondered whether she might hit a seam at the right time and beat players ranked above her. At 29, though, that looks unlikely.
While I was moving Rublev to said phone, he sneakily served out a 6-3 first set. I’d love to see him do well here: I’m reliably informed he’s a really good lad and his on-court struggles have been hard to watch. It must be extremely frustrating to find that, having hit a certain level, you don’t seem able to improve, and hope he can find a way of being kinder to himself.
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On Ashe, Swiatek and Lamens are almost ready. As such, I’ve got that on my main screen and Boyer v Rublev on my second. Sadly, there’s no prospect of three and four as I can’t get at the streamed courts on anything but my phone.
Other hand, Andy Murray once revealed that, in the aftermath of losing the 2012 Wimbledon final to Roger Federer, he began processing the realisation that he may never win a slam. A few months later, he was Olympic champion, and a few months later still, he was US Open champion.
Originally, I misread the order of play and thought Zverev v Fearnley was today, not tonight. It could be a helluva match, that one – will Zverev ever recover from his major-final collapses and pummellings? He looked broken at the end of this year’s Aussie Open and, though that was, of course, in the moment, my sense is he no longer believes he can win one.
On the main Sky channel, we’ve got Boyer v Rublev – the no 15 seed leads 32 with a break – and on my phone, I’m going to start with Musetti v Goffin, Musettti up 2-0, but we’ll see how it goes.
Preamble
Yes yes y’all and welcome to the US Open 2025 – day five!
We begin today with a variety of intriguing matchups. Lorenzo Musetti meets David Goffin, Stefanos Tsitsipas takes on the dangerous Daniel Altmaier and Beatriz Haddad Maia, whose powerful aggression has long been a favourite of this blog, faces Viktorija Golubic. Oh yeah, and Iga Swiatek, tennis’ form and most frighteningly focused player, addresses Suzan Lamens.
Franky, that’s enough for an entire session, but there’s so, so much more. Andrey Rublev is also involved in the first tranche of matches, after which Jannik Sinner, the defending champ, gets going again, Alexei Popyrin a properly dangerous opponent.
My potential match of the day, though, comes on Armstrong, where Hailey Baptiste will have a go at Naomi Osaka ,and I’m also excited to see Sorana Cirsrtea try to upset another favourite, Karolina Muchova. Add to that appearances from Daria Kasatkina, Alex De Minaur, Felix Auger-Aliassime, Maria Sakkari, Denis Shapovalov and Karen Khachanov, and we’re all set for another burst of joy and love exactly when we need it most.
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