US Open: Miyazaki comes to an end and Gauff sails through in New York
British qualifier Lily Miyazaki fell in straight sets at the US Open today as her brilliant run at the tournament came to an end in Flushing Meadows.
Having come through a number of pre-tournament qualifying matches, Miyazaki’s first main draw saw her beat Russian Margarita Betova.
But the 27-year-old, Japanese-born tennis player fell to 15th seed Swiss star Belinda Bencic.
Her 6-3 6-3 loss ended a memorable run in New York.
The couple of days at Flushing Meadows, however, could be career-changing for the Brit, who can now afford to take a support team on tour with her.
She will shoot up the rankings, too, which could see her invited to a number of more prestigious tournaments.
Career-changing US Open
“Being a professional tennis player takes quite a lot of money, obviously with the expenses of flying and hotels and stuff,” Miyazaki’s coach Craig Veal told BBC Radio 5 Live yesterday.
“Everything has gone up and up over the last few years.
“People see that number of the prize money and think, ‘Wow, it’s huge’.
“But by the time they get taxed on it, then take into account all the expenses for themselves and their coaching teams, it is a very expensive game.
“It’s tough for her to travel with someone on a full-time basis. I think this will hopefully allow her to do that a lot more regularly.”
Elsewhere at the final Grand Slam of the calendar year, Coco Gauff beat 16-year-old Mirra Andreeva 6-3 6-2 while unseeded Taylor Townsend toppled seed Beatriz Haddad Maia 7-6 7-5.
“I just learned to be aggressive, because if you give her something she is going to take advantage,” Gauff said on what she learned from playing her Russian opponent earlier in the season at the French Open.