Wednesday, August 2, 2017

Citi Open 2017 - Day 4 Photo Recap

Top seed Simona Halep defeated Sloane Stephens

From our friends at the Citi Open...

The day started with sun, Simona and Sloane and ended with another late night for Donald Young.

The sun didn’t last for long - the rain rolled in a few hours later - but top seed Simona Halep and 2015 Citi Open champion Sloane Stephens gave us the first set we were hoping for. Stephens, playing just her second tournament back after a nine-month injury layoff, battled from the baseline, saving seven of eight break points before dropping the first set in a tiebreak. With a set under her belt, world No. 2 Halep settled in, serving up a second-set bagel and booking her spot in the second round.


“I’ve played a certain way for a long time, and to make errors that I normally wouldn’t make, even though I haven’t played in a year, is still very frustrating,” Stephens said after the match. “It’s just hard coming back. You don’t really know what to expect from yourself. I didn’t play badly. I played the No. 2 player in the world.”

2015 Citi Open champ Sloane Stephens

Mariana Duque-Marino awaits Halep in the second round.

#7 Ekaterina Makarova won in straight sets

“I can say that was a very tough first set,” said Halep. “I was missing too much and also she did some great points. For the first round and first match on hard court, it was not that bad. Second set was much better, and I feel better now.”

American Jamie Loeb

Gold medalist Monica Puig defeated American qualifier Louisa Chirico 6-4, 6-4 after being down 1-3 in the second set, while No. 7 seed Ekaterina Makarova knocked off another qualifier, American Jamie Loeb, 7-6 (7-4), 6-3.

Monica Puig defeated Louisa Chirico 6-4, 6-4

The rain rolled in around 5:30. What seemed like a passing shower turned into a three-hour delay, postponing the remaining women’s matches until Wednesday.

Qualifier Louisa Chirico

Jack Sock and Romania’s Marius Copil were knotted at 5-5 in the first set before the rain, and it was Sock who snagged the first set when they returned to the court. The world No. 19 finished off Copil 7-6 (7-2), 7-6 (8-6) in just under two hours. He’ll play the winner of Marc Polmans and Jared Donaldson in the third round.

Qualifier Heather Watson

Dominic Thiem followed Sock on Stadium Court, and didn’t waste any time in booking his second-round spot. The top seed took out Henri Laaksonen in 63 minutes. Three-time Citi Open champion Juan Martin del Potro had similar success, topping Lukas Lacko 7-5, 6-2.

Patricia Maria Čšig def. Heather Watson

Once again, it was Young who closed out the night. He wrapped up his first-round match against Tim Smyczek in the wee hours of Tuesday morning. His second-round match finished in much the same way, except No. 2 seed Kei Nishikori edged out the 28-year-old American 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (7-5) at 1:53 AM.

Click here to see yesterday's results.

Wednesday’s schedule promises more big names. Check out the Stadium Court lineup:

(8) Christina McHale vs. Genie Bouchard
(3) Milos Raonic vs Nicolas Mahut
(5) Alexander Zverev vs. Jordan Thompson
(6) Gael Monfils vs. (Q) Yuki Bhambri
(10) Nick Kyrgios vs. Tennys Sandgren

Full Schedule Here