Another Irish blow as Sorensen injured

FOR the second day in succession, an Irish tennis player was forced to retire from a US Open first round match as Louk Sorensen succumbed to injury against Rogerio Dutra Da Silva while losing 0-6 6-3 4-6 0-1 at the time.

It was a sad end to a dramatic morning in Flushing Meadows for the Irish number two, who was due to take on sixth-seed Robin Söderling. However, the Swede, who had been struggling with a wrist injury, was struck down with a viral infection thus forcing the Brazilian to take up the so-called ‘lucky loser’ spot in the first round proper.

Similar to the experience of compatriot Conor Niland, whose food poisoning forced mid-match treatment before his eventual retirement on Tuesday, Sorensen was visited by the doctor in the third set for what appeared to be a cramped thumb. Subsequently he clearly felt discomfort in his left calf and right hamstring and dropped his racket three times as his thumb problem worsened.

Having dropped a gripping third set and the first game of the fourth, Sorensen decided to call it quits and shook hands with his opponent.

Sorensen, possibly unsettled by the last minute change of opponent, failed to get out of the starting blocks as Da Silva cruised to a facile 6-0 opening set victory.

Having committed 12 unforced errors in that opening set, the Irish player gathered himself to break the sixth game of the second set, holding the next with a superb ace that rounded off a fine comeback from 15-30 down to make it 5-2 before finally holding his next service game to make it 1-1 on sets.

Da Silva was forced to battle in a gripping third set before Sorensen’s struggles surfaced and eventually got the better of him.

Meanwhile, the ladies’ tournament had an even more high-profile withdrawal with former two-time US Open winner Venus Williams deciding not to contest her second round match against German 22nd seed Sabine Lisicki due to an unspecified illness.

That setback for home fans was offset by the shock win of unseeded 19-year-old New Jersey native Christina McHale, who knocked out eighth-seed Marion Bartoli (France) in two sets.

Second-seeded Russian Vera Zvonareva needed three sets to reach the third round, beating 69th-ranked Kateryna Bondarenko 7-5 3-6 6-3. With the winners of the last four Grand Slams missing from the second round, Zvonareva is one of the few remaining players with experience, losing in the 2010 final at Wimbledon and also in the decider at Flushing Meadows last year.

Elsewhere, in the men’s draw, fourth seed Andy Murray was forced to battle through a first-set tie-breaker before taking control against India’s Somdev Devvarman, winning 7-6 (7/5) 6-2 6-3.

Also in the first round, Argentina’s Juan Martin Del Potro (18) had a 6-3 6-1 6-1 victory over Filippo Volandri of Italy.