When Petra Kvitova’s forehand sailed wide, Aleksandra Krunic fell flat on her back on the Louis Armstrong Stadium court, equal parts surprise and celebration. She wouldn’t let herself believe what she had just done — pull off the biggest upset of this U.S. Open, and the greatest run by a qualifier in more than a generation.
Krunic — who never had taken a single set from a top-30 player before the Open — had just taken down the third-seeded Wimbledon champ, 6-4, 6-4. No qualifier has gone further since 1981, and in a women’s bracket rife with upsets, this was the most unbelievable — even to the woman who had authored it.
“Of course I didn’t expect to win,’’ Krunic said. “Now I’m in the second week of a Grand Slam. I don’t know, I still can’t believe I won against Madison [Keys], and now I won against Petra. It’s so many things happening in my mind that I’m trying to [stay calm]. … I’m trying to believe it, but then when I believe it I’m afraid I’m going to have so much emotions. So I’m trying to keep it all together.’’
The 21-year-old Serb kept it together against Kvitova, earning a steely straight-sets win over the heavily-favored Czech. Kvitova could have seized the world No. 1 ranking with a title in Flushing and an early Serena Williams exit. Instead, she got ousted herself, as has seemingly every other top women, the fifth of the top eight seeds to fall.
“I’m very disappointing. I wanted to win, and unfortunately I didn’t,” said Kvitova, who joined No. 2 Simona Halep, No. 4 Agnieszka Radwanska, No. 6 Angelique Kerber and No. 8 Ana Ivanovic on the list of upset victims.
“She played really unbelievable tennis and she put a lot of balls back — almost all of them.
“I don’t know. I think it’s the women’s tennis. I’m not pretty sure what’s happening. If I see this year, for example, all the Grand Slams have a big upsets. It’s same here. I think just the tennis is so close, the levels are very close, everybody really can beat everyone from the top, so it’s really difficult to stay on the top.’’
The men’s draw, however, has gone according to chalk, with the entire top 10 still alive and 18 of the top 20 in the third round, tied for the most in U.S. Open history.
“The men are having pressure, of course,” Kvitova said. “They’re just handle it better probably.’’
Kvitova didn’t handle the pressure of staying on top well, committing 34 unforced errors. She double-faulted on her serve to give Krunic a 5-4 lead, and after a long rally gave Krunic a set point she cashed in.
After breaking Kvitova in the second set — yet another backhand error — Krunic earned triple-match point with a cheeky drop shot. She didn’t need all three, seeing Kvitova stave off one but spray a forehand wide after the point of the match. It set up a fourth-round date vs. Victoria Azarenka or Elena Vesnina that even Krunic did not expect.
“No, honestly. Also, against Madison,’’ Krunic said. “When you’re playing the smaller tournaments all the time, I honestly didn’t know what to expect from myself at all. I don’t know my limits. Today, I think I pushed myself to my total limits. … Honestly, no, I didn’t expect it at all, for sure.
“It’s funny, but at 6-5 in the second when I made the dropshot for 40-love, that’s the point that I was like, ‘Oh my God, I have triple match point, maybe I can really win it.’ I didn’t allow myself to [think it]. Obviously throughout the match I believed more and more, otherwise I wouldn’t win. But I tried to keep myself so focused on the next point that I didn’t even think about the score, nothing.’’