New York | Brit Miyazaki sets up US Open QR3 against Hruncakova

With qualifying playing catch-up after rain delayed half of the 2nd-round matches on Thursday, only 7 players have made it into the main draw of the US Open so far, leaving the likes of Britain’s Lily Miyazaki yet to play her 3rd match after beating Valeria Savinykh, 6-4 6-4, on Thursday.r Su-Jeong Jang from Korea.

Miyazaki made it through to the final qualifying round after beating the Russian after an hour and 56 minutes.

Play did not start until 16.30 local time on Friday because of heavy rain, meaning that Miyazaki will return on Saturday to try and book her spot in the main draw.

The 27-year old, who moved to London aged 10 but only changed allegiance from Japan last year, has yet to play in the main draw of a Grand Slam event, and must beat the Slovakian 9th seed, Viktoria Hruncakova, to do so.

Hruncakova needed 2 hours and 44 minutes to edge her way past Emiliana Arango from Colombia, 4-6 6-4 7-6[10-8].

Denis Shapovalov cheers on his fiancee Mijam Bjorklund during qualifying at the 2023 US Open.

Meanwhile, ATP World No 26 Denis Shapovalov celebrated his fiancée’s win when Sweden’s Mirjam Bjorklund booked her place in US Open main draw for first time in her career.

The Canadian is not in action at the US Open this year due to injury, but he was in the stands cheering 25-year old Bjorklund on as the World No 155 defeated India’s Ankita Raina in the final qualifying round, 6-2 6-2.

Bjorklund, who qualified for both Roland Garros and Wimbledon last year, will make her US Open main-draw debut in New York.

“So proud!!! Qualified for her first US Open main draw. Love you Mirjam Bjorklund,” the former World No 10 wrote on his Instagram story.

Mirjam Bjorklund beat Anita Raina to qualify for a place in the main draw of the 2023 US Open for the first time.

Also booking her main draw slot was Laura Siegemund, the 10th seed from Germany, who  notched up a 1-6 6-0 6-3 come-back win over No 18 seed Oceane Dodin of France.

Siegemund is a former World No 27 who reached the 2020 Roland Garros quarter-finals, but her career-best singles performance at the US Open is a 3rd-round showing in 2016, although the German has won both of her two doubles Grand Slam titles here in New York – the mixed title with Mate Pavic in 2016 and the women’s doubles title in 2020 alongside Vera Zvonareva.

Americans Sachia Vickery and Katie Volynets are among the 7 players who booked their spots, with Vickery playing in the main draw of her home Grand Slam for the 6th time after she advanced past No 3 seed Yanina Wickmayer from Belgium, Harriet Dart’s conquerer, who retired from their match while trailing 3-1 in the first set.

Volynets stopped Erika Andreeva, the 19-year older sister of Russian prodigy Mirra, 6-4 4-6 6-2.

The 3 other players to win final-round qualifying matches on Friday were Elena-Gabriela Ruse of Romania, Han Na-lae of South Korea and 19-year-old Russian Tatiana Prozorova, who will be making her Grand Slam debut.

Veteran Vera Zvonareva, the 2010 US Open runner-up, made it into round 2 of qualifying on Friday

Meanwhile, the postponed 2nd-round qualifying matches finished up on Friday, which finalised the 9 remaining final-round showdowns now set for Saturday.

American 21-year old Fiona Crawley made the final round, edging former Doubles World No 1 Timea Babos from Hungary, 6-2 3-6 7-6[10-5].

In her first career Grand Slam qualifying appearance, Crawley has won her first 2 rounds in 3rd-set match-tiebreaks.

Crawley and Babos’s match was postponed overnight at nearly the last possible moment, 5-5 in the 10-point match tiebreak.

When play resumed on Friday, Crawley immediately won 5 points in a row to wrap up the win, and she will now play No 13 seed Kimberly Birrell from Australia in the final round on Saturday.

Also advancing is resurgent No 15 seed Yafan Wang of China, who defeated American Ann Li, 6-2 6-4.

Last week’s WTA 125 Stanford champion, Wang has won her last 9 matches, and she will face No 32 seed Marina Bassols Ribera on Saturday for a spot in the main draw after the Spaniard saw off America’s Valerie Glozman, 6-7(2) 6-3 6-1.

Wang, a former Top 50 player, missed 7 months of play last season, and her ranking fell to 696 in March, but she has posted a 55-10 win-loss record in her come-back this year, primarily at ITF Challenger events, and is on the brink of returning to the Top 100.

Zvonareva, the 2010 US Open runner-up, also moved a win away from the main draw after the former World No 2 from Russia beat Greek Despina Papamichail, 7-5 7-5, and the veteran will face Japan’s Moyuka Uchijima in the final round.

Friday’s biggest 2nd-round upset came when Elsa Jacquemot took out No 2 seed Diana Shnaider, 6-7(5) 7-5 6-3.

The 20-year-old Frenchwoman saved 7 match points in the second set before toppling the 19-year-old Russian, and she will now play Arianne Hartono from Japan in the final round.

Olivia Gadecki is one win away from making it into the main draw of the US Open for the first time

Meanwhile, Australia’s Olivia Gadecki also drew one step closer to fulfilling her qualifying dream, when the 21-year-old, who is competing at Flushing Meadows for the first time, secured her spot in the final qualifying round with a hard-fought 6-7(3) 6-3 6-4 win against American Louisa Chirico.

The 3-hour, 2nd-round battle was played across two days due to the inclement weather in New York.

This effort matches World No 139 Gadecki’s career-best showing in a Grand Slam qualifying draw, having also advanced to the final round at Wimbledon earlier this year.

To qualify at a major tournament for the first time, Gadecki needs to beat World No 128 Emina Bektas in the final round.

In other 2nd-round qualifying results, Greet Minnen, the No 5 seed from Belgium, advanced with a 7-5 6-3 win over Sinja Kraus from Austria and will play American Katrina Scott, who defeated her fellow countrywoman Elvina Kalieva, 7-6(6) 6-2; while Kaja Juvan from Slovenia, outran Japan’s Haruka Kaji, 6-4-6 6-2, and meets another Japanese, Himeno Sakatsume, who was a 6-3 6-1 winner Aussie Priscilla Hon; and Eva Lys from Germany upset Nuria Parrizas Diaz, the Spanish 22nd seed, 6-3 6-1, and she now plays McCartney Kessler after the American scored a 6-2 6-4 win over Su-Jeong Jang from Korea.