That’s all for today’s day-session coverage. Be sure to check back later for a full match report on Nick Kyrgios’s second-round match with Benjamin Bonzi and our minute-by-minute coverage of Serena Williams’ clash with No 2 seed Anett Kontaveit, due to begin at shortly after 7pm local time.
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Coco Gauff has won 6-2 7-6 over Romania’s Elena-Gabriela Ruse to wrap the day session on Ashe. Gauff rallied from 3-5 down in the second set to force a tiebreaker and played cleaner tennis on the big points to avoid the drama of a decider. Gauff, the No 12 seed, advances to a delicious all-American third-round clash against Madison Keys, which appears to be a cinch for Friday’s night session.
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Tim van Rijthoven, who burst from obscurity with a fairytale run to the second week of Wimbledon earlier this year, has taken the first set from No 5 seed Casper Ruud. The players were on even terms after trading early breaks on Court 17, but the 25-year-old from the Netherlands was just a bit sharper in the tiebreaker. It’s been some year for Van Rijthoven, who reached the fourth round at the All England Club despite having never won an ATP Tour main-draw match until three weeks before the tournament. Now he’s two sets away from his biggest scalp yet.
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A dramatic turn of events on Ashe just now. On her way to calmly serving out the second set at 5-4 40-15, Ruse makes her sixth double fault of the afternoon on double set point. She then nets a backhand in the heat of an extended baseline rally for deuce, before Gauff slots a gorgeous backhand winner at the end of a muscular 22-shot exchange, the longest rally of the match so far. Another Ruse double fault then gifts Gauff the break and she quickly consolidates.
Now Ruse will serve at 5-6 to force a second-set tiebreaker after the change of ends.
A peach of an all-American second-rounder between No 29 seed Tommy Paul and Sebastian Korda is under way on Grandstand. Korda has won each of their three previous meetings but so far today it’s been all Paul, who’s raced to a 4-0 lead thanks to Korda’s 10 unforced errors (against zero winners).
After going down quietly in the first set, Ruse has just broken Gauff to nose ahead in the second on Ashe. The 24-year-old Romanian will serve at 2-6 4-3 after the change of ends. Meanwhile next door, Wimbledon runner-up Nick Kyrgios has just taken the court for his second-round encounter with France’s Benjamin Bonzi on Armstrong.
Madison Keys is into the third round after a seesaw 4-6 7-5 7-6 win over Camila Giorgi. The No 20 seed and 2017 US Open runner-up looked finished when trailing 2-5 in the second, but fought back to force a tiebreaker where Giorgi lost her nerve completely. She advances to face the winner of the match between Coco Gauff and Elena-Gabriela Ruse that’s currently happening on Ashe.
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Harriet Dart’s US Open is over after a 6-4 6-0 defeat to Hungary’s Dalma Galfi. The 26-year-old from London could have overtaken Emma Raducanu as the British No 1 with a win today but proved no match for Galfi, who lifted the US Open girls’ title back in 2015.
Coco Gauff is cooking on Ashe. After breaking Ruse at love to win the first set, the 18-year-old American starlet breezed through a love hold capped by a 118mph ace out wide to open the second. That’s 10 straight points for the No 12, who leads 6-2 1-0.
Matteo Berrettini is through to the third round and a date with Andy Murray. The 2021 Wimbledon runner-up has held on in a fourth-set tiebreaker to win 2-6 6-1 7-6 7-6 over the French lucky loser Hugo Grenier. Meanwhile on Armstrong, Keys has clawed back from 2-5 down in the third for 5-5 against Giorgi.
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Righto, my watch is over. Here’s Bryan Graham to escort you through the next bit – and know that there’s absolutely loads that’ll be going on during it.
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Oh, and as I type that, Giorgi breaks Keys to lead 4-2 in the third! This would be a huge win for her, and she’s two holds away!
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Grenier hangs on for a breaker; if he can’t win it, he’s out, and if that happens it’s Murray v Berrettini in round three. Meantime, Galfi has broken Dart again, and this one looks did.
Galfi breaks in game one of set two and that will be a sickener for Dart – the same happened to her at the start of the match. Meantime, Keys and Giorgi are on serve in their decider, the latter 3-2 in front.
No he can’t … because Berrettini tightens, smokes a forehand into the top of the net … and it dribbles over! You’ve got to laugh. All the more so when he volleys one into the same location … and it plops back onto his side! Advantage Grenier, but a mahoosive serve quickly restores deuce, a barrage of forehands earns advantage, and when Grenier nets it’s 6-5 Berrettini, who also leads by two sets to one.
Oh! Grenier holds, then Berrettini, serving at 30-all, nets a forehand! Can Grenier capitalise?
Grenier is serving to stay in the match against Berrettini, 4-5 down in the fourth, while Galfi smites a backhand down the line to go a set up on Dart. Dart, though, suffered for a poor start, so if she maintains her form of the last few games, has a decent chance in the second.
Galfi, a former US Open junior champ, has struggled to adjust to the big game more than some, but she’s serving for the set against Dart, leading 5-4.
Excellent work from Camila Giorgi, who outlasts Keys to take set two 7-5. If Keys finds anything like her best tennis in the decider, she’ll win, but this is her we’re talking about.
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Dart was broken again by Galfi but is now on the road back, having won three games in a row. Galfi leads 4-3 in the first.
Speaking to Eurosport, Murray says he started using more slice and height in set two to break down Nava’s backhand, and also that they hit together before the tournament, Nava holding nothing back. “He’s got a big game,” he says, and reckons he’ll be difficult to beat in the next few years. On himself, he said before the game that if he wasn’t dominating he’d need to check his depth, but in set one Nava served so well it was hard to get into points. Once the sun went, though, he served better and controlled every point from the middle of the second point, and it turns out Berrettini was never a break up in set three, we and Murray were misinformed.
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Keys has broken Giorgi back and now trails 5-4 in set two having won the first 6-4, while Grenier has broken Berrettini back so it’s 3-3 in set four.
Murray praises his opponent and says that physically, he feels better than for years and he’s also moving better than for ages. It’s necessary because of how big the guys hit the ball, he explains, and he’s hoping for a deep run, noting that Lendl gives him confidence because they’ve had success together before – he made eight US Open finals in a row – and on Berrettini, now up 2-1 and with a break in set four, he says if he returns well, he’s got a great chance.
Andy Murray beats Emilio Nava 5-7 6-3 6-1 6-1!
Eleven games in a row to finish, and that’s a really good performance from Murray – he meets Berrettini or Grenier next. And let’s not forget how well Nava played for a set and bit - if he can build on that, he can do something.
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Dart’s done a terrific job of improving herself over the last year. Her problem is that she lacks a serious weapon, but her game is good enough to get her somewhere decent.
Harriet Dart is away in her match against Dalma Galfi; Galfi broke at the first time of asking and leads 2-0.
Yup, Murray holds for 4-0 and Nava knows. Meantime, Berrettini is banging serves and forehands like nobody’s business; if he had a drive backhand he’d win slams, but because he doesn’t he may well finish his career without one. he leads 2-1, but we’re on serve at 2-1 in set four.
I typed that I was expecting Murray to hand out a bageling in set four, then Nava went 30-0 and I deleted. Only for Murray to secure the double break from there; he now leads 3-0 in the fourth and is showing greater courage than me; he’s playing beautifully.
Murray breaks and consolidates at the start of set two to lead 5-7 6-3 6-1 2-0, and Nava has gone.
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Out on 17, Osorio has rebounded from losing the first set to Riske-Armitraj to take the second on a breaker, while I’ve replaced that Cachin-Holt with Grenier 6-2 1-6 (4)6-7 Berrettini.
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Oh, and Giorgi, having lost the first set to Keys in definitive fashion, is now a break up in set two, trailing 4-6 2-0.
While all that was going on, Murray took the third set off Nava 6-1; he leads 2-1 and is now far too good for his young opponent, who did a terrific job at the start but can no longer bridge the class differential with bravery and energy.
Pedro Cachin beats Brandon Holt 1-6 2-6 6-1 7-6(1) 7-6(6)!
What a win! Cachin flings himself to the ground, crying, then proceeds to his seat where he cries some more and who can blame him? Another gargantuan effort, and he’s into round three of a slam for the first time in his career; there, he’ll meet Moutet. As for Holt, he’ll come again, but this will stay with him for a long time, maybe forever.
In fairness, Holt was just keeping the ball in play really, playing on Cachin’s nerves, and when Cachin calms himself he gets to 9-6…
Madison Keys has lost a final here, when she totally no-showed against Sloane Stephens, but worse players than her have won majors and she’s got a chance here if she’s at her best – and she is at the moment. She’s taken the first set off Giorgi 6-4, clinching it with a booming service winner down the middle, while Holt has fought back from 6-3 down to 6-6 in that decisive breaker. What a match this is!
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Cachin leads Holt 5-2 in the breaker, and it’s scarcely believable that he lost the first two sets 1 and 2. Holt will be thinking about this for a long, long time if he can’t reverse the situation.
Yep, this one looks over. Another brutal rally, and when Nava flings a forehand narrowly wide, Murray has a 3-1 lead in set three. He looks to have his opponent sussed now, thinking his way through the rallies with his usual remorselessness.
For the second match in a row, Cachin is playing a fifth-set breaker. Imagine the absolute state of his plates, never mind his nerves.
Hi again, back from my Coco Pops. Is there a less filling food on the face of the earth? I’m now watching Murray 5-7 6-3 2-1 Nava, Keys 4-3 Giorgi and Holt 6-1 6-2 1-6 (1) 6-7 6-5 Cachin. We’re headed for a superbeaker…
Jason Kubler beats Mikael Ymer 5-7, 6-4, 6-2, 6-4
Australia’s Jason Kubler is closing in on victory against Sweden’s Mikael Ymer. In fact, in the time I took to type that last sentence he brought up two match points. And he won it as I typed the one after that.
The five setter between Brandon Holt and Pedro Cachin is still on serve. Holt leads 5-4 in the deciding set, so we’ll be reaching crunch time soon enough.
Madison Keys, the 2017 finalist, has started her second round match against Camila Giorgi on Louis Armstrong. She’s a break up in the first set and serving to make it 3-1.
Andy Murray is looking comfortable now against Nava. He has two set points at 15-40 on his opponent’s serve. The young American sends a weary shot into the net to level the match at one-set all.
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Andy Murray is serving to consolidate his break at 4-3 after losing the first set against Emilio Nava. The American’s dad is a former Olympic sprinter (personal best of 10.37 sec, not too bad) and his mother was a professional tennis player. So, yes, he has some decent sporting genes. Murray is struggling to get his first serve in today as the sun comes in at a nasty angle when he tosses the ball at one end of the stadium. But he holds and is 5-3 up in the second.
Pablo Carreno Busta beats Alexander Bublik 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 7-6
Carreno Busta finished off a tricky opponent after losing the first set. He’ll play the Aussie Alex De Minaur in the third round. The Spaniard is a two-time semi-finalist here, so will be one to watch as we go forward.
And there’s a breakthrough for Andy Murray against Emilio Nava forcing the error with some nice baseline play. He’s broken in the second set and leads 3-2.
Murray has levelled at 2-2 in set two, having lost the first to Nava 5-7, and with that I’ll hand over to Tom Lutz, who’ll coax you through the next little bit.
Wang Xiyu beats Maria Sakkari [3] 3-6 7-5 7-5!
That is a phenomenal win for the 20-year-old, her first win over a top-10 player, and didn’t she earn it! She could easily have faded after losing set one and also at the start of set three, but she hung in there and winning two sets 7-5, against an athlete and competitor of Sakkari’s class, tell us exactly how brilliantly she played. She meets Riske-Amritraj or Osorio next, and I’d fancy her to deal with either.
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Since breaking back in set three, Wang has been the better player, and an overhead volley gives her two match points at 15-40!
Alex de Minaur beats Cristian Garín 6-3 6-0 4-6 6-2!
He meets Carreño Busta or Bublik next.
Back to Muzza, he actually played pretty well in that set. But so did Nava, who didn’t wait to be asked, going for his shots, chasing everything and, most importantly, winning the big points. Murray will be hoping he can’t maintain this level – if he can, how is he 200 in the world even at just 20 – but if he can, we’re in for a treat. meantime, on Armstrong, Wang leads Sakkari 3-6 7-5 5-4, but Sakkari has three points for 5-5.
Moving around the courts, Berrettini lost the first set to Grenier but is 4-0 in the second; De Minaur will soon serve for the match against Garin at 2-1; Cachin and Holt will shortly begin a decider, after Holt took sets one and two one and two; and Riske-Amritraj leads Osorio 5-4 with a break.
And as I type that, Nava raises his first set point … and have an absolute look! Murray hits a booming backhand, a brilliant volley to the forehand corner that looks like deuce … and Nava spirits an unblieeeevable winner to take an 84-minute first set! Amazing!
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God only knows when Wang and Sakkari will finish; Wang is now the better player and has broken back for 3-3 in the decider, while Nava has just spirited a fine wrong-footing forehand that forces Murray to plough through deuce if he wants a first-set breaker. This is such a physical match, points and games both protracted, and Nava is doing a brilliant job to stick in it because on paper, he should be nowhere near even this version of Murray.
Ekaterina Alexandrova [28] beats Peyton Stearns 4-6 6-4 7-5!
She meets Lauren Davis in round two.
Sakkari v Wang is a belter, it really is. Sakkari is just such a great athlete and nails competitor, and leads 3-1 in the third, while Murray holds for 5-5 in set one. All four players in these matches will ache something fierce tomorrow.
Oh look, Garin has nabbed a set to trail De Minaur 2-1, Cachin has broken Holt back in set four to lead 6-5 but trail 2-1, Alexandrova will soon serve for the match against Stearns, and Grenier has taken the first set off Berrettini 6-2.
Murray forces a break point and, behind in the rally, tries a moonball, but Nava handles it well. Immediately, though, Murray earns another go and this time he hits the sideline, Nava thinks it’s out, then sends a backhand wide. He’s not happy at all, but after 64 minutes he leads 5-4. Meantime, on Armstrong, Sakkari unleashes a monstrous forehand for a break that gives her 2-1 in the decider and Moutet takes the third set 62 to lead Van de Zandschulp 6-4 1-6 6-2.
A brilliant backhand down the line – Murray expected so covered cross-court – earns Nava his second break point, and this time he puts away a poorly-executed lob! He leads 5-3 and will now serve for the first set while, on Armstrong, the clock ticks over two hours with Wang and Sakkari at 1-1 in the decider. It’s a bazzer of a match, this one, physical and skilful. Get it on if you can.
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Having lost the first set to Bublik, Carreno Busta has now won two straight to lead 4-6 6-4 6-3; Holt is a break up at 4-3 in the fourth against Cachin, so just two holds away from round three, and Garin has broken De Minaur back to trail 3-6 0-6 4-4.
It’s a really good match on Armstrong, and though Sakkari saves a set point with a big serve, Wang hangs in there to break again, and they’ll now play a decider.
On Grandstand, Grenier and Berrettini are away – Grenier leads 3-1 – as does Moutet in his and Van de Zandschulp’s third set, the first two having been split. Otherwise, it’s now Murray 3-3 Nava and Stearns 4-6 6-4 3-4 Alenandrova.
Now Wang saves break point, with an ace, and holds for 3-6 6-5, while Nava hangs in there for 3-2; he and Murray been playing 40 minutes for their five competed games.
Murray missed three break points in game one and earns advantage in game four, but Nava does brilliantly to send a backhand winner that breaks the sideline. Ten minutes later, they’re still at it at 2-2 while, on armstrong, a murderous forehand from Sakkari saves set point for Wang, and she leads 6-3 5-5.
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…and Sakkari breaks back again! She’s a serious competitor, stretching into a return before a canny drop sets up a backhand cross that’s too good for Wang to get over the net. Sakkari leads 6-3 4-5.
Murray and Nava are on serve at 1-2, while Wang has broken Sakkari again and will now serve for a decider; an eighth double, and she’s 15-30 down…
Carreno Busta levels his match with Bublik at 4-6 6-4; Cachin is two sets down to Holt but a double break up in the third, his first-round five-setter presumably run out of his legs. De Minaur leads Garin 6-3 6-0, Moute and Van de Zandschulp are level at 6-4 1-6 and Sakkari has snatched Wang’s break back.
Shelby Rogers beats Viktoria Kuzmova 7-5 6-1!
She meets Jabeur next.
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Ons Jabeur [5] beats Elizabeth Mandlink 7-5 6-2!
Mandlik really put Jabeur under there, especially in set one, and I’m sure we’ll be seeing more of her – she’s only 21 and was impressive out there. Jabeur, though, had too much, responding to every challenge, and she’ll meet Rogers or Kuzmova next.
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Murray forces Nava through various deuces after electing to receive, but Nava hang sin there well for his hold and 1-0.
However, I was wrong about Mandlik, who’s broken Jabeur back … only for Jabeur to break again immediately afterwards. She leads 7-5 4-2, and this is nearly an ex-match. But on Armstrong, Wang has broken Sakkari and now trails 3-6 3-1.
On Court 11, class is telling: Carreno Busta lost the first set to Bublik 6-4, bit now leads 5-2 in the second. Likewise, van de Zandschulp is break up on Moutet in the second having lost the first, Rogers is a set and a break up on Kuzmova, De Minaur is on garin, and Holt has taken the second set off Cachin for 6-1 6-2.
Here come Murray and Nava, to a largely empty Ashe. There’s got to be a way of making sure this doesn’t happen.
As for Muzz, we learn that Nava is a fine athlete ad excellent mover, but doesn’t have loads of firepower. That being the case, it’s hard to see him having anything for even this version of Murray.
Yeah, time’s up. Jabeur breaks Mandlik at the first time of asking in set two, and now leads 7-5 2-0.
It’s nearly Murray time – he takes on Nava in just a few minutes, first on on Ashe.
De Minaur has broken Garin and taken their first set 6-3, Rogers has come back from a break down to lead Kuzmova 7-5, and Moutet closed out against Van de Zanschulp 6-4.
Yup, Sakkari closes out easily enough in the end to take the first set 6-3, but that was a hard and entertaining 45 minutes.
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Back on Court 12, Holt has broken and consolidated; he leads Cachin 6-1 3-1 and the way this is going, he’ll soon be in back in the locker room, while Sakkari has broken Wang again and is serving for set one at 5-3.
Oh I say! Jabeur holds then, 6-5 and 0-30 in front, monsters a crushing forehand on the run and down the line that earns her three set points. Mandlik saves the first and really opens her shoulders trying to do likewise with the second, but Jabeur hangs in there then flips things with a squash-shot lob, her power too much, and she takes the first set 7-5.
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Brilliant from Ons, easing to break-back points and directing Mandlik about the court before sealing the deal with a forehand volley. 5-5 it is, and you get the feeling that every time it needs to, class will tell.
Bublik has taken the first set against Carreńo Busta 6-4, while Garin and De Minaur are at 3-3, Rogers and Kumova at 4-4, and Moutet leads Van de Zandschulp 4-3 with a break.
And have a look at Elizabeth Mandlik! She breaks Jabeur again and will shortly serve for set one at 5-4.
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Wang raises three break-back points, and though Sakkari saves two, the third is converted for 2-3. She’s a funny one, Sakkari, no3 in the world despite never having made a major final and having one just one tournament in her career, Istanbul in 2019. She moves beautifully, but her lack of a serious weapon has and probably will stop her ever winning a biggie.
Yup yup, Mandlik nets a forehand; that’s 3-3 and Jabeur’s break back, secured just before Sakkari breaks Wang for 3-1 and Holt rushes clinches the first set against Cachin, 6-1. In fairness to Cachin, his first-round match with Aljaz Bedene went to a final-set breaker and was the first time he’d played a fifth, so it taking him a while to get loose is no great surprise.
Elsewhere, Moutet is a break up on Van de Zandschulp [21], likewise Kuzmova on Rogers and Bublik on Carreño Busta [21].
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Mandlik has rushed Jabeur! She breaks then consolidates for 3-1! I’m sure Jabeur will take it in her stride, but she might be big-up naused by the recent slam winners – she’s better than almost of all of them, and yet.
Madlik is pretty small, and we learn that she tries to combat this by taking the ball early, to rush her opponents. She holds her first service game for 1-1, Jabeur having breezed through hers. Meanwhile, Holt has held and then broken again – he leads Cachin 3-0 – and Sakkari, who lost to Raducanu in last year’s semi, leads Wang 1-0; they’re now playing deuce on Wang’s serve.
Holt, the world no303, starts well and breaks Cachin in the first game, Cachin floating a half-arsed drop into the net. It’s also worth adding, now I think about it, that to beat Fritz, he won three sets in a row after losing the first. He’s in nick.
Brandon Holt, by the way, is a qualifier and also Tracy Austin’s son; he beat the in-form Taylor Frtiz in round one, while Elizabeth Mandlik is Hana Mandlikova’s daughter; Mandlikova won the US Open in 1985.
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All our 11am matches are knocking up. To begin with, I’m watching Holt v Cachin on the nen’s and Wang v Sakkari and Jabeur v Mandlik in the women’s.
Looking at the women’s draw, I’ve not a clue who’s going to come through it. I say this a lot, but it’s the least predictable sport in the world and possibly the least predictable a sport has ever been. Coco Gauff has been improving and wouldn’t it be great if Serena could eke eek out one final major, but the reality is that no one knows anything.
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We’ve got three Brits playing today – Jack Draper and Andy Murray I mentioned, but Harriet Dart meets Dalma Galfi in early evening. She had a great win over Daria Kasatkina [10] in round one, and should she win today, she becomes British no1.
On Amazon, Jim Courer and Tim Henman are discussing Emma Raducanu; both sort of say she needs to get a bit more serious about competing. Not that she’s not serious now, but that she needs a more conventional coaching set-up to extract the most from her talent.
Show court order of play
Ashe (12pm local, 5pm BST)
Andy Murray v Emilio Nava
Elena Gabriela Ruse v Cori Gauff [12]
Ashe (7pm local, 12am BST)
Serena Williams v Anett Kontaveit [2]
Daniil Medvedev [1] v Arthur Rinderknech
**
Armstrong (11am local, 4pm BST)
Xiyu Wang v Maria Sakkari [3]
Maddison Keys [20] v Camila Giorgi
Nick Kyrgios [23] v Benjamin Bonzi
Armstrong (7pm local, 12ampm BST)
Jack Draper v Felix Auger-Aliassime [6]
Beatriz Haddad Maia [15] v Bianca Andreescu
**
Grandstand (11am local, 4pm BST)
Ons Jabeur [5] v Elizabeth Mandlik
Hugo Grenier v Mario Berrettini [13]
Tommy Paul [29] v Sebastian Korda
Leylah Fernandez v Liudmila Samsonova
Preamble
What’s up, dudes?! Amped for another dope day of US Open? Let’s gooooo!
As is ever the case at this stage of a slam, we need more eyes – and more independent eyes – than we have, in order to take everything in. But for starters, we’ve got Andy Murray, Coco Gauff, Nick Kyrgios, Ons Jabeur, Mario Berrettini and Daniil Medvedev all playing, plus some contests that look absolutely terrific: Serena Williams v Anett Kontaveit, Madison Keys v Camila Giorgi, Jack Draper v Felix Auger-Aliassime and Cristian Garín v Alex de Minaur.
So stick with me, and let’s see how it all shakes out.
Play: 11am local, 4pm BST
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