US Open digest: Johanna Konta knocked out, Roger Federer eases through

Johanna Konta (left) shakes hands with Caroline Garcia after the first-round match

(Image credit: Al Bello/Getty Images)

published 29 August 2018

Britain’s Johanna Konta is out of the US Open after a first-round defeat against French sixth seed Caroline Garcia.

US Open: men’s semi-finals order of play, betting odds and TV details

After the loss, Konta said: “She [Garcia] played a high level consistently throughout the whole match, made it very difficult for me to get any momentum. She showed why she is number six in the world.”

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Maria Sharapova is through to the second round after a 6-2 7-6 (8-6) win against Patty Schnyder.

Federer progresses

Roger Federer eased into the second round at Flushing Meadows with a 6-2 6-2 6-4 victory against Yoshihito Nishioka.

The five-time US Open champion said: “I’m very happy with how I played. It is particularly tough for us Europeans because we don’t get this type of humidity. You are sweating so much you don’t know what has hit you. It is tough so you are happy when you survive a day like this.”

Heat forces retirements

The BBC reports that five male players retired from matches on day two because of “heat-related issues”.

Temperatures at Flushing Meadows reached close to 38C (100F) and humidity levels were more than 50%.

The five players who retired because of the heat were Stefano Travaglia (Italy), Ricardas Berankis (Lithuania), Leonardo Mayer (Argentina), Mikhail Youzhny (Russia) and Filip Krajinovic (Serbia).