I'm not a robot, says Pliskova on shock loss

NEW YORK • Karolina Pliskova, the No. 1 women's singles seed at the US Open, was beaten in the second round by Caroline Garcia 6-1, 7-6 (7-2) on Wednesday.

A significant upset on paper, but it was no great surprise in the grand scheme of women's tennis, which has become a free-for-all in recent seasons.

Garcia, a powerful French player with a complete game, was once ranked as high as No. 4 in 2018, but is now ranked 50th.

She already had split her previous six matches with Pliskova, and although she arrived unseeded at this Grand Slam, she was the more consistent and resourceful player in Louis Armstrong Stadium.

"I knew I could give her trouble for sure," Garcia said of the world No. 3, who she had not faced since 2018. "She gets a lot of confidence from her serve, so I was trying to be really focused on the return and trying to make as many returns as I could."

Pliskova, a flat-hitting and big-serving Czech, arrived in New York with a big opportunity to win her first Major, with six of the world's top-10 players missing, including No. 1 Ashleigh Barty and No. 2 Simona Halep.

But Pliskova, who reached the 2016 US Open final after upsetting Serena Williams, remains perhaps the most accomplished women's player without a Slam to her name.

Although she was one of the first top European players to commit to making the trip to the US amid the coronavirus pandemic, she ended up losing early in both tournaments in which she played.

She also lost her opening match of the Western & Southern Open to Veronika Kudermetova on Aug 23, but said her opponents had simply been better than her on the day.

"None of those matches which I lost was that bad," Pliskova said. "I think there are just some girls who are playing good tennis, Garcia is one of them.

"But that's how it is sometimes. I'm not a robot, so I don't have to play every day amazing."

After a first round that was surprisingly stable with the top-24 seeds all advancing, the women's tournament returned to its more usual unpredictability on Wednesday.

Alexander Zverev (Ger) bt Brandon Nakashima (USA) 7-5 6-7 (8-10) 6-3 6-1, David Goffin (Bel) bt Lloyd Harris (Rsa) 7-6 (8-6) 4-6 6-1 6-4 , Jan-Lennard Struff (Ger) bt Michael Mmoh (USA) 6-2 6-2 7-5.

Angelique Kerber (Ger) bt Anna-Lena Friedsam (Ger) 6-3 7-6 (8-6), Ann Li (USA) bt Alison Riske (USA) 6-0 6-3, Petra Kvitova (Cze) bt Kateryna Kozlova (Ukr) 7-6 (7-3), 6-2.

On top of Pliskova, three more of the top-16 seeds were beaten in the second round: No. 11 Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan, Czech No. 12 Marketa Vondrousova and American No. 13 Alison Riske.

Pliskova's defeat leaves two American women as the top remaining seeds: No. 2 Sofia Kenin and No. 3 Serena Williams, who is chasing a record-tying 24th Slam.

But instability has been the rule, with five different women winning the last five Slam singles titles before the pandemic forced the tour's five-month hiatus.

Since the start of 2017, there have been eight first-time Major champions and it would not be a surprise if there is another one in New York.

By comparison, there have been no first-time singles champions during that period in the men's game.

The "Big Three" of Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer have swept all and while the latter two are not at Flushing Meadows, the world No. 1 is and he remains the man to beat here.

Djokovic advanced into the third round after beating Britain's Kyle Edmund 6-7 (5-7), 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 and he later revealed that he was happy to be given the option to stay at a rented house rather than at either of the two bubble-approved hotels.

"I never spent a second thinking that I can stay in a hotel when I heard that I can have a chance to stay in a house," he said, before suggesting neither hotel would rank highly on Tripadvisor for peace due to their proximity to a highway.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, NYTIMES

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US OPEN