The biggest upset of the week so far saw Peng Shuai defeat the number four seed, Agnieszka Radwanska.  It was a superb performance from Peng who maintained her aggression throughout the whole match and served impeccably, not getting broken at all in the second set.  In what would turn out to be the final game of the match, Radwanska had a break point, but Peng survived a string of exhausting rallies.  In my opinion this is Peng’s best ever singles win and I am delighted for her because she seems really sweet.  Sloane Stephens lost to Johanna Larsson and Kurumi Nara was knocked out by Belinda Bencic, who has reached the third round of a Grand Slam for the second consecutive time.

1. Eugenie Bouchard v Sorana Cirstea (WTA US Open, R2)

Eugenie Bouchard played a fine match in her first outing at this year’s US Open, defeated Olga Govortsova, 6-2 6-1 in 59 minutes.  Bouchard faced three break points at 2-2 in the first set, but saved all of them including one with a rather dashing lob.  She would lose just one more game in what was an aggressive and clean performance.  The Wimbledon finalist will likely face a much more testing match against Sorana Cirstea in the second round.  The Romanian world number 80 (!!!) thumped Heather Watson, 6-1 6-1.  It was a very surprising result considering both players’s recent form, but a much welcome victory for Cirstea.  This will be a first career match between Bouchard and Cirstea and it promises to be an interesting watch under the lights of the Arthur Ashe stadium.  I feel like there hasn’t been quite as much attention surrounding Bouchard at this tournament after her poor recent form.  She looked fit and healthy in her first round win and has a draw that is capable for her to build some momentum.  Cirstea can be a threat, but one good win doesn’t mask the fact that she has had a horrid year.  Bouchard’s better consistency is likely to be the difference in this match.

Prediction: Bouchard d. Cirstea in 2 tight sets

2. Flavia Pennetta v Shelby Rogers (WTA US Open, R2)

This has been a pretty awesome summer for Shelby Rogers.  After reaching her first WTA final in Bad Gastein, she moved over to the hard courts where she continued her excellent form.  Rogers secured a three set win over Alize Cornet in DC and then won four matches in Canada, coming through qualifying with a win over the very solid, Peng Shuai and then securing back-to-back wins over Ajla Tomljanovic and Eugenie Bouchard in the main draw.  The latter of those wins drew a great deal attention with Rogers dishing out two bagels in a 6-0 2-6 6-0 first round win.  On Tuesday, she won her first ever main draw match at the US Open with a routine straight sets victory over Maryna Zanevska.

Rogers’s second round opponent will be Flavia Pennetta, who hs been playing much better after a really dire run of form stretching from Rome to Montreal.  Pennetta needed three sets to get past Julia Goerges in the first round.  Goerges is as erratic as they come but can be a dangerous opponent, particularly on these fast hard courts so it was a good win for Pennetta.  Rogers will be a tough opponent, but Pennetta always saves her best tennis for the US Open…

Prediction: Pennetta d. Rogers in 3 sets

WTA US Open 2nd Round Predictions

Serena Williams d. Vania King in 2 sets

Mona Barthel d. Varvara Lepchenko in 2 tight sets

Sam Stosur d. Kaia Kanepi in 2 very tight sets

Carla Suarez Navarro d. Coco Vandeweghe in 2 tight sets

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova d. Nicole Gibbs in 2 sets

Case Dellacqua d. Qiang Wang in 2 tight sets

Ana Ivanovic d. Karolina Pliskova in 2 sets

Petra Kvitova d. Petra Cetkovska in 2 tight sets

Madison Keys d. Aleksandra Krunic in 2 sets

Marina Erakovic d Elena Vesnina in 3 sets

Victoria Azarenka d. Christina McHale in 3 sets

Zarina Diyas d. Catherine Bellis in 3 sets *this could be one of those Oudin-like wonder weeks, but Diyas is a very solid player*

Ekaterina Makarova d. Polona Hercog in 2 tight sets

Barbora Zahlavova Strycova d. Monica Niculescu in 3 sets