Daria Saville has made a heartbreaking admission that he is considering it tennis her career after a crushing first-round defeat to Japanese qualifier Ena Shibahara at the US Open. Saville squandered a 2-0 lead in the third set against her 26-year-old opponent and then angrily smashed her racket after double-faulting on match point to hand Shibahara a 6-3 4-6 7-6 (10-6) victory.
Saville was on course for his first win in almost two months after coming from a set down to lead 2-0, 30-0 in the decider. But the Australian was left feeling jittery and his inability to close out matches came back to haunt the 30-year-old as the Japanese qualifiers took full advantage.
It was the second Grand Slam in which Saville had been eliminated in such a humiliating manner, with the Australian losing his way in the deciding set after taking an early lead. Saville narrowly missed a backhand that allowed his Japanese opponent to return serve in the decider and was heard berating himself after each error.
However, the former world junior No. 1 managed to put himself on the brink of victory after winning a marathon 16-minute game to hold serve and lead 6-5 in the decider. But after Shibahara forced the decider into a super tiebreaker, the Japanese took a 9-6 lead to set up three match points.
Struggling to stay in the match, Saville was left devastated after a double fault that allowed her opponent to win, before eventually falling to the court and smashing her racket five times in frustration. The Australian also suffered a crushing second-round defeat at Wimbledon last month after missing a match point against Marta Kostyuk and revealed after her US Open exit that she was still battling plantar fasciitis in her feet and questioned whether she had the will to continue playing.
Daria Saville’s shocking $147K confession after US Open defeat
“(I’ve had it) since the first round at Wimbledon. I’ve managed to get over it,” he said. “It hurts seven out of 10 in the beginning, and it hurts more when you lose. It’s a little bit easier when I’m ahead. Maybe I’ll reset. I really want to play the Asian swing but sometimes I might not feel like doing this anymore.”
Saville has overcome two knee reconstruction surgeries and an Achilles injury to return to the top 100, but admits she is “absolutely fed up” with her current predicament. And the 30-year-old made the bombshell revelation that she is only competing in the US Open because of the guaranteed $US100,000 ($AUD147,000) cheque that all first-round losers receive.
“That’s the reality. Where else am I going to make money? I’m going to lose money somewhere else if I bring in a coach,” Saville said. “Mentally, it’s tough because I don’t feel like I deserve it because I’m not working hard enough. It’s just a cycle. I’ve been through it before when I’ve played injured and it’s just a horrible cycle. (I think), ‘Do I still want to do this?’
“I’m really negative at the moment. I don’t know how I’m going to feel tomorrow and maybe I won’t for a few days, but it’s not fun to play injured.” Saville is expected to drop to 97 in the world rankings but must put his latest setback behind him as quickly as possible if he hopes to stay in the top 100 and secure a direct ticket to the Australian Open in January.
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There was better news for some of Saville’s compatriots in Australia, with Thanasi Kokkinakis the biggest winner after beating doubles grand slam runner-up Stefanos Tsitsipas 7-6 (7-5) 4-6 6-3 7-5 for the biggest grand slam win of his career. Alex de Minaur also made a comeback from injury to beat American Marcos Giron 6-3 6-4 5-7 6-4, while compatriot Jordan Thompson and wildcard Tristan Skoolkate also recorded impressive wins to continue Australia’s excellent start to the year’s final grand slam.
with AAP
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