American teen upsets Rezai at U.S. Open

Beatrice Capra follows through during her three set win over Aravane Rezai at the U.S. Open on Thursday. Beatrice Capra follows through during her three set win over Aravane Rezai at the U.S. Open on Thursday. (Kathy Willens/Associated Press)

Beatrice Capra has a shot at becoming the American teen sweetheart at this year’s U.S. Open.

Capra, ranked 371st in the world, prevailed by scores of 7-5, 2-6, 6-3 on Thursday over No. 18 Aravane Rezai of France in second-round action at the Grand Slam event.

It was the second upset of the week for the 18-year-old born in Baltimore City, Md., who has achieved success on the junior circuit and is affectionately called “Tricey” by those close to her. Earlier this week, she knocked off solid veteran Karolina Sprem of Croatia.

She needed to win a playoff last week to earn a wild-card berth into the tournament.

“Every time I’ve just been given a wild card, I never do well,” Capra said. “I like earning everything.”

Last year, then 18-year-old Melanie Oudin won over many tennis fans at the Flushing Meadows, N.Y., event by reaching the quarter-finals. The American was not able to duplicate that success this week, losing to Alona Bondarenko.

“I watched every second of it,” Capra stated of Oudin’s performance last year.

Capra first must get past the third round. She will next face the winner of Thursday night’s match between former Open champion Maria Sharapova, the No. 4 seed, and Iveta Benesova of the Czech Republic.

The match at Grandstand Stadium turned in the eighth game of the final set when Rezai could not hold serve, falling behind by two games.

The heat that has gripped the tournament through four days began to wane a bit in the mid-afternoon, with unpredictable winds picking up.

Roger Federer had tiny trouble in his first career match against Andreas Beck of Germany. The Swiss star, looking for his seventh consecutive final and sixth victory overall in New York, won 6-3, 6-4, 6-3.

Federer will next take on Paul-Henri Mathieu of France.

Chang trounced

Top women’s seed Caroline Wozniacki blitzed Kai-chen Chang 6-0, 6-0 in just 47 minutes. The Chinese player won seven games against the Dane earlier this year but was helpless at Arthur Ashe Stadium.

No. 4 Jelena Jankovic of Serbia survived the challenge of Croatian Mirjana Lucic, 6-4, 3-6, 6-2. The match turned for good when Lucic trailed 3-2 and proceeded to lose her serve.

It was the highest-profile match for Lucic, now 28, in the U.S. in some time. She made a splash on the circuit as a teen in the mid-to-late 1990s but became the unwitting poster child for players with domineering parents.

She publicly accused her dad of physical abuse and financial improprieties and even quit the game for four years before launching a comeback in 2009.

No. 11 Svetlana Kuznetsova and fellow Russian, seventh seed Vera Zvonareva and No. 15 Yanina Wickmayer of Belgium all advanced without dropping a set.

Wickmayer will take on Swiss veteran Patty Schnyder, who upended No. 22 Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez of Spain 7-6 (2), 6-4.

Kei Nishikori of Japan pulled off the upset, eliminating No. 11 Marin Cilic of Croatia 5-7, 7-6 (6), 3-6, 7-6 (3), 6-1. Cilic needed help from training staff in the final set of a match that lasted one minute shy of five hours, while Nishikori admitted he was cramping up during the latter stages of the battle.

No. 6 Nikolay Davydenko was shown the way out in much quicker fashion, with Frenchman Richard Gasquet pounding out a 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 win.

Fifth seed Robin Soderling of Sweden was not troubled at all by American Taylor Dent, who appeared disinterested. The two-time French Open finalist was a 6-2, 6-2, 6-4 victor.

No. 19 Mardy Fish of the U.S. and No. 21 Albert Montanes of Spain posted straight sets victories.

Canadian Peter Polansky was set to take on crowd favourite James Blake late Thursday afternoon. The Thornhill, Ont., native is coming off a huge win over Juan Monaco of Argentina earlier in the week, and also beat top pro Juergen Melzer of Austria at the Rogers Cup last month in Toronto.

The Thursday night session will feature No. 3 men’s seed Novak Djokovic of Serbia, in addition to Sharapova.

With files from The Associated Press

More Source:

U.S. Open: Caroline Wozniacki double bagels Chang Kai-chen to ...
American Teen Capra Pulls Upset at U.S. Open - CBS News
Beatrice Capra - Zimbio
Capra Upsets No. 18 Seed Rezai to Reach Third Round at U.S. Open

Related News:


Details :
Submited at Thursday, September 2nd, 2010 at 10:00 pm on Sports by Alina
Comment RSS 2.0 - leave a comment - trackback
Leave Comment Here...
Name (required)
Email (required)
Website / Url