US tennis on the way up
The billionaire’s daughter, the frustration and the bright future
01/24/2023 3:27 p.m
For Sebastian Korda and Jessica Pegula comes the end in Melbourne. Nevertheless, the prospects in US tennis seem rosy. The German Tennis Association is also looking at the amazing renaissance of the white sport on the other side of the Atlantic.
Sebastian Korda snuck out of the Rod Laver Arena frustrated, and Jessica Pegula also packed her things bitterly disappointed after her title hopes ended. It was a depressing quarterfinal day for the hopefuls of burgeoning US tennis at the Australian Open. The future prospects of the tennis nation, which was once so spoiled by success, still appear rosy.
“With the group we have we can do really well in the near future,” said Korda after his Melbourne dreams were dashed. The 22-year-old was unable to seize his semi-final chance against the Russian Karen Khachanov, at the score of 6:7 (5:7), 3:6, 0:3 he gave up due to wrist problems.
Ten men from the United States will be ranked in the top 50 in the world after the tournament concludes, nine of them 25 years old or younger. And from the duel between Tommy Paul and newcomer Ben Shelton (approx. 4.30 a.m./Eurosport) there will definitely be a semi-finalist in Melbourne – the first from the USA since Andy Roddick in 2009. President Dietloff von Arnim of the German Tennis Association (DTB) has already announced that he wants to take a closer look at the Americans’ upswing.
Pegula mighty frustrated after Aus
The US women will be nine in the top 50, led by Pegula, who was initially frustrated on Tuesday. “It’s annoying,” said the daughter of billionaire Terrence Pegula after her fifth quarter-final defeat at Grand Slams, this time she lost to the two-time tournament winner Wiktoria Asarenka from Belarus clearly 4: 6, 1: 6. For Asarenka, the success means that she has to put off returning to her son Leo. “He wants me back home and today is my dog’s birthday,” said the 33-year-old.
She is playing against Jelena Rybakina from Kazakhstan for the finals, who, despite her Wimbledon triumph last summer, is still not very well known. Rybakina prevailed in a duel between two Grand Slam winners against Latvian Jelena Ostapenko 6: 2, 6: 4. She started the tournament in the rather remote 13th place and only played in the Rod Laver Arena this year when she beat world number one Iga Swiatek in the last sixteen. “It’s not so important where you start the tournament as it is where you finish the tournament,” she said.