As an 18-year-old American earning a wild-card spot at the U.S. Open, Capra’s story bore a resemblance to that of Melanie Oudin, who made a stunning run to the tournament’s quarterfinals last year as a 17-year-old. And after a 7-5, 2-6, 6-3 upset over France’s Aravane Rezai Thursday, vaulting Capra into the third round, Capra got her first taste at questions that are sure to follow if her run continues.
“I really look up to Melanie। I watched all of her matches last year and I was just so happy for her,” Capra said। “You know, it was really inspiring to me because I played her a year before and then she was getting to the quarters of a Grand Slam. It was just unbelievable and I was so happy for her.”
But for Capra, who was upset in the under-18 Nationals and didn’t think she would have a shot at the U.S. Open to begin with, her story is different.
Coming from a mostly junior tournament schedule, she said she lost in the first round of each tournament qualifier for WTA events she entered. She still doesn’t know if she’s going to go pro, currently taking a year off to decide whether she wants to attend college.
Unlike Oudin, that doesn’t come with the daunting expectations she said contributed to her loss on Wednesday. Instead, Capra said she likes the attention so far and thinks the crowd is on her side.
“They were awesome (Thursday),” Capra said. “When I was down in the first set 4-2, you know, I was thinking it was going to go downhill. You know, they really helped me and supported me.”
After a 6-3, 6-4, 6-3 victory over Andreas Beck, Federer talked about the advantage it gives him moving forward.
“It’s definitely an advantage I would think, yeah. ... it’s a dangerous court to play on and everybody has the last slam left to prove. I think that’s why it makes it really hard to win.”A day after Victoria Azarenka collapsed on the court during a singles match, she and partner Dinara Safina pulled out of women’s doubles.
Azarenka and Safina were scheduled to face the ninth-seeded pair of Cara Black and Anastasia Rodionova in the first round Thursday.
On Wednesday, Azarenka, a 21-year-old seeded 10th in singles, was taken away in a wheelchair, then went to a hospital for tests, which showed she had a mild concussion. Azarenka said she banged her head in a fall at the gym before the match.
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