CoCo Vandeweghe beats Agnieszka Radwanska to lead Americans into fourth round
NEW YORK — CoCo Vandeweghe is showing her muscle this season, having journeyed to her first career Grand Slam semifinal at the Australian Open with wins over then world No. 1 Angelique Kerber and seventh seed Garbine Muguruza.
But in a real way, Vandeweghe’s 7-5, 4-6, 6-4 third-round victory over 10th seed Agnieszka Radwanska at the U.S. Open on Saturday could be considered a more crucial achievement.
The 20th-seeded Vandeweghe went into the encounter with a 1-5 deficit in career matches against the Pole, only winning their Birmingham, England outing on grass last year in a tough three-setter.
“First of all, Aga’s a really difficult player to play against,” Vandeweghe told the crowd. “She puts you in a lot of uncomfortable situations.
“I only have one win against her, but now I’ve made it two, and that’s all that matters.”
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Following the match, Vandeweghe saluted the crowd for its support, and did a trot over to her courtside box to share a fist pump with her new coach, former Wimbledon champion Pat Cash. They’ve been working together since Wimbledon.
Vandeweghe was quick to thank the normally boisterous — some would say occasionally unruly — New York crowd for urging her on in the match.
Vandeweghe, who spent the early years of her life in the nearby Long Island town of Locust Valley, grew up for the most part in Southern California after her parents divorced — mom, Tauna, was an Olympic swimmer, while dad, Robert, worked in finance. The rest of the extended Vandeweghe family favored basketball — grandpa Ernie played for the Knicks, and uncle Kiki is the Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations for the NBA.
Although it’s frequently rumored that those from SoCal have a naturally laid-back personality, there is nothing relaxed about Vandeweghe.
She is a high-energy, often pugnacious opponent on court, a boxer ready for the knockout, which she has had a habit of going for too soon. On this day against Radwanska she exhibited her usual approach, on more than one occasion her racket took the brunt of her frustration, but she also managed to show some patience in waiting for her opportunities.
Each player in the match had 14 opportunities to break serve. Vandeweghe was successful on six occasions, while Radwanska only took advantage of five chances.
Vandeweghe’s penchant for playing with aggressive abandon can be seen in her stats for winners and unforced errors. She posted 49 winners to 54 unforced errors. In contrast, Radwanska was less bold, which resulted in 25 winners and 29 unforced errors and it worked against her end result in the 2-hour, 56-minute match.
The 25-year-old Vandeweghe is one of five American women to take their place in the second week of the U.S. Open. Ninth seed Venus Williams, Sloane Stephens and Jennifer Brady won earlier int he day to advance to the fourth round, and 15th seed Madison Keys closed out the night with a three-set victory over 17th seed Elena Vesnina.
The 91st-ranked Brady was the other American to play an afternoon match at the Open on Saturday.
She backed up her upset of 23rd seed Barbora Strycova of the Czech Republic in the second round with a hard-fought 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (3) win over Monica Niculescu of Romania.
This marks Brady’s second Grand Slam fourth round appearance this year. She reached that round as a qualifier at the Australian Open in her first main draw at a major.
Interestingly, all seven matches Brady’s won this season have come at the Grand Slams — three in Australia, one at Wimbledon and three to date at this Open.
When asked whether she would’ve ever imagined reaching the fourth round at two majors this year at the start of the season, the 22-year-old said, “If somebody told me that (would happen), I probably would not have believed them. I’m just kind of taking it all in.”
Vandeweghe will square off against Czech veteran Lucie Safarova for a coveted quarterfinal slot, but it will be Brady who has the more difficult opponent ahead in world No. 1 Karolina Pliskova.
“It’s going to be a fun match,” Brady said. “It’s always an honor to play the players at the top of the game.
“I have never played a No. 1 player in the world,” she said, seemingly excited for the opportunity. “”She’s earned her place. She’s been doing very well. I don’t think just because she hasn’t won a slam, it’s not like she doesn’t deserve it.”