Shocks come in so many gradations in tennis these days that even the first-round exit of the defending champion, Angelique Kerber, at the precocious hands of 19-year-old Naomi Osaka in 65 minutes on day two, was less seismic than the departure of Johanna Konta on day one.
The fragile German, who has tumbled to number six in the world, arrived in disarray after losing in the second round in Cincinnati. Her confidence looks shot to pieces, and Osaka, a talent ranked number 45, was relentless in recording the biggest win of her career, 6-3, 6-1, under the new roof on Arthur Ashe Stadium. Kerber’s second serve let her down badly and could not get the ball moving from at hand at more than 150km/h. Osaka was pinging them down at 174km/h, and struck 22 clean winners.
Kerber, indeed, was not among the favourites, nor was she even one of the eight players capable of finishing the tournament as world number one. She has had a desperately uneven time of it since last year.
By failing to reach the Wimbledon final this summer she had already surrendered her number-one ranking. Karolína Plísková, who lost to Kerber in last year’s final but is now at the summit of the game, vies with Garbiñe Muguruza, the Wimbledon champion, as favourite here.
Plísková also had the benefit of the roof as steady rain wiped out the rest of the card on uncovered courts. She beat the Pole Magda Linette, 72 in the world, 6-2, 6-1 in an hour and 19 minutes. The Czech said: “Before every first-round match I’m a little bit nervous, but especially in a grand slam – and especially having to defend so many points from the final last year. My serve could be better, but, overall, I think it was solid.”
© Guardian
