India’s Pranjala Yadlapalli fought hard against the 16th seeded Alexandra Sanford of the USA only to see her efforts going in vain in her second round match in the girls’ singles event of the 2016 US Open in New York on Wednesday. The 17-year-old squandered a one-set lead to go down 7-5, 5-7, 2-6 in a marathon 3 hours 1 minute contest.
With Yadlapalli’s ouster, India’s campaign at the season’s final Slam comes to an end.
The Indian’s low conversion of break points – only four out of 23 – did not help her cause at all. Sanford, on the other hand, took her chances well. After losing the opener, she made use of all the three break points she got in the second set to send the match into a decider.
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Yadlapalli had opportunities even in the third set as she was presented with two break points but she failed to capitalise on them.
While the Indian scooped up a total of 125 points, Sanford grabbed 132 points in this match. She next meets compatriot Vanessa Ong for a place in the quarter-finals.
Karolina Pliskova advances to semis with a masterclass performance
In some of the other matches of the day in singles, 10th seed and Czech No. 1 Karolina Pliskova advanced to her maiden Major semis after outclassing 18-year-old Croat Ana Konjuh, 6-2, 6-2. Long been singled out as a talent to watch out for, Pliskova’s constant failures at Grand Slams have been quite bewildering.
Now 24, she never made it past the third round at a Slam prior to the 2016 US Open, despite having broken into the top 10 and proved her credentials on the WTA Tour. It is finally here that she is playing that she was always expected to.
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The Cincinnati winner’s mighty serve came alive during this quarter-final encounter with the 2013 US Open junior champion. Her service stats were staggering to say the least – she won 92% of her points on her first serve and 77% of her points on her second serve.
She broke her teenaged rival four times in this heavily one-sided contest and made 12 unforced errors whereas Konjuh’s racquet sprayed 15 more in a nervous, error-filled show from the youngster. There was none of the confidence that Konjuh displayed in her splendid upset of the fourth-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska in the previous round.
Pliskova now goes on to meet the top seed Serena Williams, who defeated Simona Halep in the quarterfinals.
