Victoria Duval wowed everyone at the U.S. Open Tuesday night with her tennis skills.
Yesterday, the 17-year-old American impressed in other ways, by the way she graciously handled defeat, a 6-2, 6-3 second round loss to Slovakian Daniela Hantuchova, and charmed reporters in her post-match press conference.
The 296th-ranked Duval, who took the Open by storm with her dramatic three-set victory over one-time champion and 11th seed Sam Stosur and remarkable backstory, finally acted her age between the lines, but she remained the story nevertheless.
She credited Hantuchova and also pointed out her own mistakes; she said the media attention was overwhelming, though enjoyable and she admitted to goosebumps watching her own highlights.
When asked what she will remember the most, Duval didn’t mention the fame she gained, but talked about meeting young fans who told her she was their role model.
“For a 17-year-old, that’s pretty cool to hear,” Duval said. “I am just really proud that I’ve been able to give myself not only a good image on the court but off the court.”
By last night, every tennis fan was familiar with Duval’s story. Born in Miami to Haitian parents, she was held at gunpoint with two cousins for several hours by intruders in the island’s capital, Port-Au-Prince, when she was seven. Three years ago, her father Jean-Maurice returned to Haiti at the time of the earthquake, and was buried alive for 11 hours.
Then came the upset of Stosur as a qualifier ranked 296th in the world.
The match didn’t begin until shortly before 9 p.m., and was moved, off of smaller Court 11, adding to the anticipation. It went unfulfilled.
Duval struggled from the start and the 30-year-old veteran, ranked as high fifth overall years ago, took advantage at jam-packed Court 17 in Flushing.
“Beating Sam in the first round and feeling a little bit of expectations in the second round, that’s something I’m going to learn to adapt to,” Duval said. “It was overwhelming. But I think this is what it’s all about.”
Duval seemed nervous from the start, and never could find her rhythm. She missed shots she made in Tuesday’s memorable upset of Stosur, and failed to sustain momentum after breaking Hantuchova in each set, unable to hold her serve in the ensuing game in each instance.
“I missed a couple of shots by a couple of inches,” she said. “Those were the ones that ended up making the difference because I was in every game.”
Hantuchova simply kept rallies alive from the baseline, allowing Duval to beat herself and grow exasperated as her grounds strokes, so crisp and accurate the other night, eluded her. The youngster committed 27 unforced errors to just 14 winners and had trouble handling Hantuchova’s powerful serve.
“I don’t think I ever felt free in the match today,” she said. “I couldn’t quite get myself going. I gave myself a couple chances, but I just never felt comfortable today.”
