Gauff in TROUBLE?!? Shelton vs Tiafoe PREVIEW | US Open 2024

Intro from mini Mees to unbearable heat day three of the 2024 US Open was a scorcher as the humid weather conditions took a toll on players and fans alike while there weren't many surprises the day results brought us some even hotter third round matches for Friday hey my name is Christian bass Knight and welcome to Christian's Court where I cover tennis from all angles if you have not yet already make sure you subscribe and click that notification Bell so you're notified whenever I post more you will open updates and so you join Christian's crew we love to have you Gauff progresses but faces Svitolina challenge defending Champion KOC golf progressed to her third consecutive US Open third round after beating the 37-year-old mother of two Tatiana Maria 646 love this match was very similar to Koko's opening round match against vvar kacha as she had a scratchy start in this one as well and she hit a lot of double faults in this first set she hit seven in the first set alone and the first set it really could have gotten more complicated than what it was as Co she faced multiple break points when she tried to serve off the set at 5'4 now she did a better job of controlling the errors in the second set and Maria also just could not sustain her level Koko though has got to clean it up for her next round for sure as she cannot afford the slow starts in the first set she only made 47% of first STS in and she hit 10 winners to 20 unforced airs and of course mentioned how she hit those seven double faults in the opener meanwhile in the second set she did a much better job from the ground hitting 15 winners to five unforced airs and she also did a better job of going up to the net as well and won 91% of points at the four court and I think that's something that she should consider doing throughout the tournament utilize more of those uh excellent double skills and net skills coko come on now also of course too Koko did a much better job of controlling the double faults in the second set only committing two double faults compared to obviously the seven in the first set now alluding to the title of this video I still am worried for Koko and her prospects of defending this title you know even aside from the whole game it doesn't really seem like she has that same Moxy and confidence that we had from last year and it is understandable because she is not playing as well as she did last year especially coming into this tournament but still I think just all the vibes from her and her Camp just weren't as great you know it did get a little bit better towards the end and she started getting more you know pumped up positively but I like to see that from start to finish if possible her next opponent 27th seed is Felina would not let her off the hook though like kacha and Maria did she is a more solid players Felina is than those two and she's playing great tennis right now and she recently scored a convincing straight sets win over her compatriot and Helen kalinina the head tohe between Felina and golf is tied at one a piece and their last meeting was at the Auckland final this year which Koko took in three sets however golf was in better form then in Auckland compared to now Koko did hit the practice course immediately after after this win over Maria so that's a really good sign cuz the serve definitely needs to be on point against Felina in this next match I think that while fidelina definitely might be you know a daunting threat on paper um for good reason I think this one is doable for golf to get the W and I might honestly give the edge to Koko in this match because I remembered that Spina you know she tends to not bring her strongest tennis when it comes time to play these really top top players in the slams lately especially I also think the crowd will be a massive asset for Coco but she has to conduct them properly like she did last year regardless I do see this one going three sets and you know I do feel like the crowd will push Koko over the edge in this one let me know in the comments who y'all think will come out on top of this one if you think that g will etch this one out or do you think Felina will get this top five scalp by the way things would not get any easier for Koko should she progress past falina she'd play the win of Emma Navaro and monasta and I think that she will play Navaro who looks in scary good form right now as she only dropped four games in her opening two matches Navaro of course beat G in the woman in fourth round a couple months ago while kostuk beat G the last time they played in stutgart this year a woman who is in good form is Sabalenak meets mini-me second seed and totle favorite Arena sabalenka who looked really Sublime in her 6361 thrashing of Italian Lucia bronzetti big Lanka h hit 24 winners to 17 unforced airs and she was excellent on her serve making 73% of first balls in and winning 77% points behind that first serve and she also won 82% of her second serve points and did not allow bronet a single break look however perhaps more notable than sa Blanca's excellent playing was her taking a picture with this little fan afterwards who showed up to the match in a matching purple dress and tiger tattoo just absolutely adorable SA said that seeing her little look alike motivated her to keep inspiring the younger generation Alie Alexy manure had his little cute fan moment as he had this nice boy Paul come out and support him throughout all his matches and then last year at the US Open Tommy Paul had his Fanboy Eddie come out and support him in all of his matches there but it's so it's nice to have sablena have her own little um little mini supporter if I'd have to rank the slam young fans it'd be mini sabla first and and then deor is Paul and then Tommy Paul's Eddie from the US Open last year I hope to see saano Jr at Arena's next match when she takes on a Katarina alexandrova alexandrova beat the 16-year-old American Eva joic in three tough sets by the way keep an eye out for Eva jovic because she's definitely going to be taking over the scene very soon you know she came through she got a walk card as she won the USA girls 18s Nationals and she got a great opening round win over 42 ranked magdal Linette and she nearly got the upset over alexandrova but she kind of struggled a little bit physically which is understandable as I believe this is her very first wut pro tournament so for her she had a really honestly such an excellent debut showing anyways the head to-head between Arena and alexandrova is tied at three a piece and a Katarina is a good player for sure she's dangerous and she did beat EOS fanc in Miami earlier in the season however she is not that experienced at the slam level despite her being kind of a veteran at this point as she's only made one slam second week and I do not expect her to make it two slam second weeks after this tournament sa Blanca's draw does look a little bit interesting and kind of tricky on paper for sure she could face Madison Keys in the fourth round which would be a repeat or rematch of their epic open semi-final match which Arena took that one was like probably the match of the year or one of the matches of the Year by the way you got to take it one match at a time though because keys does have a interesting third round match when she takes on Alisa mdin who is a solid player in her own right gold Zheng survives, Krejcikova OUT medalist Ken win Jen had to come from behind in her second consecutive match here at this tournament upending Erica Andrea 6761 62 Erica is Mera Andrea's older sister and she definitely has a different game than merera she has more variety and I really think that she's overall a more complete player than her little sis some people have said that Erica is the more talented Andre a sister the ranking does not reflect that as Mera is ranked within the top 25 I believe and Erica I think is maybe ranked outside the top 45 or top 50 but maybe the Elder CIS will end up the better player years down the line I've been very impressed with can win this tournament thus far you know just her ability to problem solve throughout these difficult matches and she's overall very solid and her serve has been a major asset for her especially in this match against Andrea where she bombed down 20 Aces kenwin now plays German juli NE Olympic silver medalist Donna vage faces American Peyton Sterns who upset 12 seed dark has he cannot in straight sets I say upset although it's really not upset to me I kind of caught this result I had Sterns coming through to make the round of 16 in my tournament preview and while this next match with Donna vage will be tough I do believe she can uh get the upset the true upset and you know make the second week for the second consecutive time at the open wi wi in Champion Babor kova meanwhile is out she lost to Atlanta Gabriella Roose in straight set now this isn't a total surprise even though Roose is a qualifier because Kika she hadn't played a hardcore match since February before this tournament started Victoria Azarenka and Paulo Bosa will be the favorites to come through and meet in the fourth round here in this section Azarenka had a very woring end to her second round win against Clara Burell as she suffered very bad from migraines and and she was reduced to tears and even had to go put on some sunglasses before completing her um postmatch interview but DOA meanwhile earned a strong straight sets win over dangerous floater Taylor Townsen transitioning to the men's side Nova jovic's section looks Ben Shelton vs Frances Tiafoe preview very very interesting the Serb got a retirement win from his compatriot llo Jerry at 64 642 love Jerry he was dealing with an abdominal issue jovic who didn't really look 100% himself now plays Montreal Champion Alexi poin this is the third time this season that these two have played in a slam third round I think that poin can definitely test jokovic so the Serb will need to bring close to his best tenant if he wants to see the second week yet again the winner of this match would get the victor of perhaps an even more interesting third round battle between Ben Shelton and Francis TFO both guys had businesslike performances on the court today Shelton eliminated Spanish Veteran Roberto Bautista G while tafo got the retirement win after taking the first two sets over Alex shevchenko who pulled the plug at the beginning of the third set due to heat exhaustion Shelton will be the favorite for many people coming into this match he's the higher ranked of the two and he leads the head-to-head two to nothing and he won the last meeting which was at the Houston finals earlier this year in three sets but more people will remember their US Open quarterfinal from last year where Ben hung the phone up on big fo beating him 6236 7662 I I looked back at the extended highlights of that match to kind of draw my memory and in that match really Shelton Loki stole it from tifo as Francis had two separate break leads in the third set but he lost concentration like he unfortunately normally does and ultimately he withered away after dropping the third set Shelton however Rose to the occasion and he outplayed and just overpowered TFO to be honest tiao I thought was way too passive especially towards the end of the match and he really allowed Shelty to control most of the Baseline proceedings Shelton overall had more Moxy more flare more fight in him and really just subdued Francis which is kind of crazy how he sunned big foe TFO for sure will be hungry for Revenge here I think that the Revenge Factor will be a huge for Francis in this one that loss to Shelton last year was perhaps the most devastating of his career maybe that loss I think was the catalist to francis's 10mon Long slump as he felt that it was a great opportunity for him to make back toback was open finals and he was you know the favorite coming into that one and he was the older of the two even though these two are good friends he felt like it was not a good look on him to lose that match I do think that Francis will learn a lot from the loss and he won't make the same mistakes or hopefully he won't make the same mistakes and will keep his foot on Shelton's neck you know throughout and I think he's definitely got to get more hype and got to get more involved because Shelton kind of he was real hyp throughout the most of the match I think that Shelton's energy was able to kind of turn the tied of that of that match both guys have had similarly solid lead UPS into the open you know they both lost in the DC semifinals and then Francis he had a better Cincinnati open for sure and making the finals there while Shelton I think he lost in the fourth round or either the fourth round of the quarterfinals to Z and a tight three Setter so I feel like both are kind of lowkey even I might get the slight Edge to tiao as far as level heading into the open now as far as level actually at the open I will give the edge to Ben Shelton I feel like Ben has been playing slightly better tennis at the tournament than foren TFO and I feel like for that reason I will be having Shelton improve his head to head to three to nothing and advance to the second week moving up in the draw Andre Rublev, Musetti, Fritz etc. advance rublev and Yuri leka both earned impressive comeback wins from two sets to love down today first Le heska took down American qualifier Mitchell Krueger before the six seeded rublev avoided another early slam loss beating Arthur renon 465 7 61 6262 I initially had rublev taken the section but rer deid looks very good as he has not yet dropped a set he has a challenge on his hands still in round three facing dangerous Dutchman Talon greeksport Alexander Z earned a straight sets win today over Alexander Muer and he'll now play Thomas Martin Ed next who defeated 29th seed and compatriot Frisco selo in five sets up top Brandon Nakashima backed up his H Gun win with a another straight says Victory beating Arthur kazal and his cornrows Nakashima now faces 18th seed Lorenzo mused who saved two match points before beating Meir kesch manovich in five sets MTI was clearly feeling it having his maraton Fuki gun show moment afterwards although there's no outdoing the Hungarian I'm sorry Lorenzo and lastly 2022 finalist Casper Roode is still alive after outlasting galon Fe in four sets he'll now face talented Chinese Lefty Jerry Shang the 19yearold who upset 27 Seas to Shick in round one will compete in his third slam round of 32 after making it to this very stage at the Australian Open this year Taylor Fritz my pick to come through this section had a very impressive second round showing over Mato bartini winning that one 63 7661 the American now faces Francisco kenana who really shows up for the slams The Argentinian won his very first ATP Tour level match main draw match at won this year when he upset six seed Andre rublev in the first round he got another good scalp today taking down 17th seed Day four top matches ugon bear looking ahead to day four we have a few standout matches on the cards Yanik Center opens play on Arthur Ash playing a another American Alex Nicholson and the two played in Cincinnati two weeks ago where yanic won a tight two Setter EOS fiance will follow up Yanik on Ash and then Nomi Osaka will open up the night session with her Blockbuster second round round against kolina mova akaras will then follow where he plays B vanan Sho on Louis Armstrong Sebastian K has a tough one against Czech Thomas makash and then Jasmine palini has yet another difficult match this time facing former US Open finalist Carolina pishkova and lastly Jessica Pula and Sophia Kennan duel in the Battle of the Red White and Blue my winner picks here will be CER mova Corda palini and Pula that's it for my day three US Open recap and let me know in the comments below how y'all feel about kok's title defense prospects do y'all think it is indeed in danger or will she get past fidelina and perhaps Navaro also who y'all got in that Shelton TFO third round make sure you subscribe again click the notification Bell so you're notified whenever I post mine day four yours open breakdown and recap thank you all again for your support and I'll see y'all next time here on Christian's Court