Key events
Muchova and Wang are away, likewise Cash/Patten and Bopanna/Ebden.
I didn’t mention this is the preamble, but regular readers of this blog will be familiar with Calv Betton, the coach who supplies us with insight and analysis. Well his charge, Henry Patten, along with his partner, Julian Cash, is playing in the last 16 of the men’s doubles first up today. Their opponents, Rohan Bopanna and Matthew Ebden, are seeded six, but let’s hope they get a talking-to.
Here come Muchova and Wang!
Also going on:
Preamble
Yo dudes! And welcome to the US Open 2023 – day seven!
It’s getting real isn’t it? Ooooh yeah! We begin today with one of this blog’s favourites, Karolína Muchová, whose brilliant performance in beating Aryna Sabalenka at Roland-Garros suggested a player ready to take the next step. She did lose in the final, but there’s no shame in being bested by Iga Swiatek, and it’s hard to see her not finding a way past the unseeded Wang Xiyu.
Ashe, meanwhile, gets going with Tommy Paul, the number 14 seed, against Brian Shelton. But it’s our second match that really catches the eye, Caroline Wozniacki returning from retirement with every bit of the moxie that defined her first act … to face Coco Gauff, the prodigy-veteran who’s now improving at an invigorating pace.
And there’s plenty else besides! After Muchová v Wang we’ve got Sorana Cirstea, conquerer of Elena Rybakina, against Belinda Bencic, the Olympic champ who might finally be getting the hang of Grand Slam progression. Then, following them, Francis Tiafoe – another beginning to control his talent – meets Rinky Hijikata, the unseeded young Aussie, and the day sesh rounds out with the brilliant Swiss teenager, Dominic Stricker – who qualified then despatched Stefanos Tsitsipas – taking on the number nine seed, Taylor Fritz. Let’s go, dudes!
