Friday, August 28th, 2015 was the fourth and final day of qualifying for the 2015 U.S. Open. With only 32 men and women left at the third and final round of the qualifying draws, only half of them would earn a spot in the main draw.
Americans Tommy Paul, Shelby Rogers, Anna Tatishvili and Jessica Pegula Qualify for the Main Draw
On the men's side, there was only one American man left standing in the qualifying draw - Tommy Paul. The 18-year-old is the reigning French Open boys' singles champion and he showed why he is a rising star on the ATP World Tour. Paul defeated Switzerland's Marco Chiudinelli 6-1, 6-4 to qualify for his maiden Grand Slam.
That wasn't all for the Americans to cheer about as Shelby Rogers, Anna Tatishvili and Jessica Pegula all qualified for the main draw of the women's singles. Rogers defeated number 15 seed Alla Kudryavtseva 1-6, 6-2, 6-4, which is a much needed boost for the young American after a subpar year on the WTA. Georgian-born American Anna Tatishvili, the 16th seed in this draw, had a few wobbles but overcame Belgium's Ysaline Bovaventure 6-1, 0-6, 6-2. Pegula defeated her compatriot Melanie Oudin 7-6(8), 6-0 to qualify for her first U.S. Open, having lost in the second round of qualifying in 2011 and 2012.
Unfortunately, Oudin, Catherine Bellis and Claire Liu were not so lucky as they all lost in straight sets in the final round of qualifying, despite winning two high quality and important matches each.
Other Qualifiers Include Konta, Kulichkova, Bertens, Mathieu, Zverev and Pella Amongst Others
On the men's side, some of the qualifiers included the top three seeds Paul-Henri Mathieu, Alexander Zverev and Guido Pella, and unseeded but talented youngsters Elias Ymer and Andrey Rublev. Mathieu defeated number 21 seed Alejandro Falla in three sets, while Zverev and Pella defeated number 29 seed Ivan Dodig and France's Mathias Bourgue in straight sets, respectively. Ymer overcame number 21 seed Albert Montanes 7-5, 6-4, while Rublev battled past Peter Gojowczyk in the scorching heat of New York City, winning 7-5, 2-6, 6-4. Other notable winners include the Jurgen Melzer who is coming back after a long injury layoff, Yoshihito Nishioka, and seeds 15 through 18 Alejandro Gonzalez, Illya Marchenko, Michael Berrer and John-Patrick Smith.
On the women's side, some of the qualifiers included number three seed Johanna Konta, seeds six through eight Kateryna Bondarenko, Elizaveta Kulichkova and Kiki Bertens, and number 11th seed Jelena Ostapenko. Konta defeated Tamira Paszek in three sets while Bondarenko, Kulichkova, Bertens and Ostapenko all won in straight sets. (Ostapenko defeated Bellis.) Other notable winners include Tereza Mrdeza, Aliaksandra Sasnovich, Maria Sakkari, Laura Siegemund, Alexandra Panova, Mayo Hibi and Anett Kontaveit. Mrdeza caused the upset of the day by defeating number two seed Yaroslava Shvedova 5-7, 7-6(8), 7-6(4) in three hours and nine minutes.
With the U.S. Open only a few days away, these qualifiers will all be excited and ready to start their respective singles campaigns next Monday or Tuesday. With three matches already under each of their belts, who knows what damage they could do at the final Grand Slam of the year?