Upsets were plenty on Tuesday as four top 10 seeds were eliminated from the 2019 United States Open tennis tournament in Flushing Meadows, New York. Those in the top 10 who got knocked out were the fourth seed Dominic Thiem of Austria, the eighth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece, the ninth seed Karen Khachanov of Russia and the tenth seed Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain.
Thiem was eliminated by Thomas Fabbiano of Italy 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2. He will lose a significant amount of points because he reached the quarterfinals of the 2018 U.S. Open.
Tsitsipas was beaten by Andrey Rublev of Russia 6-4, 6-7, 7-6, 7-5. Even though Rublev was unranked, he has been very hot as of late. In the third round of the Cincinnati Masters on August 15, Rublev beat the great Roger Federer of Switzerland 6-3, 6-4.
The fact that Khachanov was beaten on Tuesday should come as a real shock. Khachanov was in top form as he reached the semifinals of the Rogers Cup in Montreal. However, he was beaten by Canadian Vasek Pospisil 4-6, 7-5, 7-5, 4-6, 6-3 in Pospisil’s first ATP Tour win of 2019. Pospisil has only played since Wimbledon due to recovery of back surgery in January.
Bautista-Agut meanwhile was beaten by Mikhail Kukushkin of Kazakhstan 3-6, 6-1, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3. Like Khachanov, Bautista-Agut had been playing strong tennis this summer as he reached the semifinals of Wimbledon.
After 10 Americans won on Monday, nine more Americans won in first round action on Tuesday. The most impressive wins came by Tannys Sandgren of Gallatin, TN, Alison Riske of Pittsburgh, PA and 141st ranked Kristie Ahn of Upper Saddle River, NJ. Sandgren beat 2008 Australian Open finalist Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France 1-6, 6-7, 6-4, 7-6, 7-5. Meanwhile, Riske upset the women’s 24th seed, 2016 French Open champion and 2017 Wimbledon champion Garbine Muguruza of Spain 2-6, 6-1, 6-3. Ahn meanwhile beat the 2004 U.S. Open champion and 2009 French Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia 7-5, 6-2.
Of the six other American winners on Tuesday, four were women and two were men. The American women who were victorious were Taylor Townsend of Chicago, IL, who beat Kateryna Kozlova of Ukraine 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, 2019 Australian Open semifinalist Danielle Collins of St. Petersburg, FL, who beat Polona Hercog of Slovenia 6-3, 4-6, 6-4, 125th ranked Francesca Di Lorenzo of Pittsburgh, PA, who beat Veronika Kudermetova of Russia 7-6, 6-2 and 140th ranked Cori Gauff of Delray Beach, FL, who beat Anastasia Potapova of Russia 3-6, 6-2, 6-4. The two other American men to win on Tuesday were John Isner of Greensboro, NC (14th seed and 2018 Wimbledon semifinalist) who beat Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 and Frances Tiafoe of Hyattsville, MD, who beat Ivo Karlovic of Croatia 6-2, 6-3, 1-2.
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