Russian tennis players came to the United States not as extras, but for trophies. The unfading Vera Zvonareva and the incredible Daniil Medvedev are claiming victory. And young Anastasia Guryeva has already managed to win the US Open 2023.

The 18-year-old athlete played two crazy matches in one day, lost in both, but still reached her first Grand Slam title.

Path to the final

At the 2023 US Open, Russian athletes generally performed well. Daniil Medvedev reached the final in the men’s singles and will try to repeat his success two years ago in his confrontation with Novak Djokovic. In the women’s doubles final, Vera Zvonareva and Germany’s Laura Siegemund will compete for victory against Erin Routliffe and Gabriela Dabrowski. And young Anastasia Guryeva has already become the champion of the US Open 2023, having won the junior tournament together with Romanian Mara Gae.

Before the start of the junior competitions, the Russians had the right to hope for the success of at least one of our athletes. Yaroslav Demin and his partner, Mexican Rodrigo Pacheco Mendez, received the first seeding number among the boys. Among the girls, the third seeds were Alisa Oktyabreva and Peruvian Lussiana Perez-Alarcon. Guryeva and Gae were also among the seeds, but only number eight. Oktyabreva stopped in the first round, Demin reached the semi-finals, but could not go further. But Anastasia managed to break into the finals.

The path of Guryeva and Gae to the main match was not easy, although for the time being they managed to achieve results without any particular difficulties. The Polish and two American pairs were left behind; the semi-finals with two quick Japanese girls, Hayu Kinoshita and Wakana Sonobe, awaited ahead. And here the Russian woman and the Romanian woman began to have serious problems. The girls, who had previously been distinguished by good power serves, could not adjust their proven weapons, and often made mistakes in rallies. The result of the first set is 2:6 in favor of the opponents. In the second game, the Asians tried to build on their success, but failed to take advantage of their chances, losing 3:6. Everything was decided in a tiebreaker, in which serve returned to the international duo from Europe – after 10:7, the path to the final became open.

First significant trophy

In the final, which, due to organizational issues, took place on the same Saturday, the Russian and Romanian again saw the Japanese in front of their eyes. But there was no mistake here – another couple from this country made it to the main match: Sara Saito and Nanaka Sato. True, while watching the final, it was difficult to escape the thought that the plot was largely copied from the semi-final confrontation.

Sara Saito and Nanaka Sato / Photo: © Mike Stobe / Stringer / Getty Images Sport / Gettyimages.ru

The opponents took the first set without leaving any chance – 6:1, and then immediately made a break in the second game. But still, Nastya and Mara found the strength to return to the game and literally clawed out victory in the second set – 7:5. For the final triumph, all that was left was not to make a mistake in the championship tiebreaker.

Somewhere away from the 10th court, where the young tennis players forged victory, Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka was emotional, losing in the women’s singles final. And Guryeva and Gae, being in a great mood, put the squeeze on the discouraged Japanese women, who already believed in their success. 10:8 – and here is the first, still junior, but still very significant Grand Slam trophy in the hands of a Russian athlete!

It remains to wish Medvedev and Zvonareva to support the initiative of a young and very promising compatriot.