US Open day three: Zverev, Tsonga stunned

Published by TenniSmash

Alexander Zverev came up short against Borna Coric in the US Open second round. Photo: Getty Images

With organisers attempting to mop up the remnants of a washed out day two, there were no fewer than 87 singles matches scheduled on day four of the US Open. And while most of the seeds made it through relatively unscathed, a few big names crashed out in spectacular style.

The men: Zverev, Tsonga stunned

Denis Shapovalov just keeps on making waves in world tennis. After walloping his way through the Rogers Cup, the Canadian out-thought and out-muscled Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in a bruising second round encounter. The 18 year-old went toe to toe with the eighth seed, eventually coming through 6-4 6-4 7-6(3).

RELATED: Woodbridge – Winning in the city that never sleeps

This was supposed to be the tournament that Alexander Zverev finally made his mark at a Grand Slam. It didn’t happen. The fourth seed, who finished his first round match against Darian King at 2am on day one, was bundled out in the second round by fellow Next Gen star Borna Coric.

After Zverev started the stronger, Coric slowly found his feet in a high-quality match. Both men played big tennis, but it was Coric who was able to win the points that mattered as he battled to a 3-6 7-5 7-6(1) 7-6(4) win.

“Physically I’m fine,” Zverev said afterwards. “I just played very, very bad in the second and third set. I should have won the third. I definitely should have won the fourth.”

There were no such problems for fifth seed Marin Cilic, the only player in the bottom half of the draw who has made it to a Grand Slam final. The Croat was solid against German Florian Mayer, needing exactly 100 minutes to record the 6-3 6-3 6-3 win.

RELATED: Say what?! The best quotes of US Open day three

In other second round news, John Isner made short work of Hyeon Chung, winning 6-3 6-4 7-5; Sam Querrey was a 6-4 6-1 6-4 winner over Dudi Sela; and Mischa Zverev won an epic battle with Benoit Paire, coming through 6-3 6-2 3-6 6-7(3) 7-5.

Of the matches carried over from the first round, Juan Martin del Potro was a straight sets winner over Henri Laaksonen 6-4 7-6(3) 7-6(5) on Arthur Ashe; Nick Kyrgios lost an all-Aussie first round clash, the 14th seed beaten by the world No.235 John Millman 6-3 1-6 6-4 6-1; Dominic Thiem downed Alex de Minaur 6-4 6-1 6-1; and Grigor Dimitrov was a 6-1 6-4 6-2 winner against Safranek.

The women: Muguruza on the march

There’s something irresistible about Garbine Muguruza at the moment. The Spaniard, who is enjoying a stellar run of form, cruised into the third round of the US Open – equalling her best ever result at the event – with a 6-4 6-0 win over Ying-Ying Duan.

While Muguruza undoubtedly deserves plaudits for her exploits on the hard courts, it is Maria Sharapova who is capturing all the headlines. The Russian, who at times looked fatigued after her exploits on Monday night, fought back from a set down to beat Hungary’s Timea Babos 6-7(4) 6-4 6-1.

RELATED: Gallery – US Open day three

“I felt like it was a scrappy match but some of those days can be the best, when you get through and give yourself another chance,” Sharapova mused after the fact.

There was no such reprieve for Caroline Wozniacki. The fifth seed, who had a shot at becoming No.1 in Flushing Meadows, slumped to 6-2 6-7(5) 6-1 defeat against Ekaterina Makarova.

Meanwhile, Venus Williams was a 7-5 6-4 winner against Oceane Dodin; Sloane Stephens won a massive match with Dominika Cibulkova, coning through 6-2 5-7 6-3; Petra Kvitova was a 6-1 6-2 winner over Alize Cornet; and Julia Goerges was a 6-2 6-1 winner over Zheng Saisai.

Headlines from the first round matches carried over from Monday, eighth seed Svetlana Kuznetsova won a marathon battle against Marketa Vondrousova 4-6 6-4 7-6(2); CoCo Vandeweghe was a 2-6 6-3 6-4 winner over Alison Riske; Agnieszka Radwanska was a 6-4 7-6(3) winner against Petra Martic; and Elina Svitolina finished off Katerina Siniakova, winning 6-0 6-7(5) 6-3.

Share this: 
  • Most popular articles

24 May 2016

Preparing your body for clay court tennis

With all eyes on the red clay of Roland Garros, there's plenty that club players can do to... More

16 February 2017

Men’s and women’s tennis: as different as believ...

In the first part of our series analysing the similarities and differences between men's ... More

24 November 2016

GIG: Djokovic the fastest tennis player in the world

Novak Djokovic is the fastest tennis player on the planet, according to new data from Tenn... More

15 September 2016

The 10 most influential players in the history of tennis

The greatest champions, goes the old adage, are those who leave their sport better than th... More