Auger-Aliassime wins 5-set thriller to advance to 4th round of U.S. Open
Tsitsipas suffers 5-set upset loss to Carlos Alcaraz; Medvedev, Halep advance
Canada's Felix Auger-Aliassime nearly blew a two-set lead before ousting Spain's Roberto Bautista Agut in the third round of the men's draw, 6-3, 6-4, 4-6, 3-6, 6-3 at the U.S. Open on Friday in New York.
The 12th-seeded Aliassime had his serve working for him early and often to reach the fourth round at Flushing Meadows for the second year in a row.
He opened the match with back-to-back aces, then finished the first game with a third to hold serve and go up 1-0.
The Montrealer had five aces in total in the first set, and 15 through two, but gave back the next two sets before pulling off the victory in three hours 55 minutes.
WATCH | Montreal's Auger-Aliassime downs Agut in 5 sets to advance at U.S. Open:
Auger-Aliassime fired 27 aces in the five-set thriller, while Bautista Agut had just two.
Unforced errors by Auger-Aliassime kept 33-year-old Bautista Agut hanging around, with the Canadian making 74 compared to 31 for his opponent.
The 21-year-old Canadian will play either American Frances Tiafoe or fifth-seeded Russian Andrey Rublev in the next round.
Tsitsipas suffers 5-set upset loss to Carlos Alcaraz
With the Arthur Ashe Stadium crowd chanting his name, 18-year-old Carlos Alcaraz upset third-seeded Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (7), 0-6, 7-6 (7) at the U.S. Open in New York.
Alcaraz, the teenager from Spain, used powerful groundstrokes in an entertaining match to knock off Tsitsipas. Tsitsipas can take all the long bathroom breaks he wants from home. The controversial Greek tennis player faced an unfriendly crowd again in large part because of his lengthy breaks in the bathroom.
WATCH | 18-year-old Carlos Alcaraz upsets Tsitsipas in 3rd round of U.S. Open:
Alcaraz easily pulled off the biggest win of his career and is in the fourth round at Flushing Meadows for the first time in his career. He was down 5-2 in the third set but kept pushing in a match that stretched past four hours.
Alcaraz thanked the crowd, absent last year because of the pandemic, for "pushing me up in the fifth set." He became the breakout start of the U.S. Open and had fans chanting "Carlos! Carlos!" with each big winner.
Tiafoe ousts No. 5-seed Rublev late at night
American tennis player Frances Tiafoe had a small, late-night crowd at Arthur Ashe Stadium going wild on every point in an upset win that pushed the record for the latest finish in tournament history.
Tiafoe outlasted fifth-seeded Andrey Rublev 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (6), 4-6, 6-1 and reached the fourth round for the second straight year. Tiafoe, Rublev and a few hundred fans were left on the grounds by the time the match ended at 2:14 a.m
Tiafoe had experienced five-set heartbreak before at Flushing Meadows. He lost to John Isner in 2016, Roger Federer in 2017 and Alexander Zverev in 2019 in five. Not this time. The 23-year-old fan favorite stripped off his shirt and celebrated with fans, before he sat on the bench and shook his head at his accomplishment.
Tiafoe won the five-setter in 3 hours, 45 minutes. Tiafoe is the first American man to reach the second week at the U.S. Open in consecutive years since Andy Roddick and Mardy Fish in 2011-12.
Medvedev rolls onto 4th round of U.S. Open in straight sets
No. 2 seed Daniil Medvedev continued an easy first week at the U.S. Open by routing Pablo Andujar 6-0, 6-4, 6-3.
The 2019 runner-up at Flushing Meadows has lost only 22 games in his three matches thus far.
Medvedev improved to 16-4 at the U.S. Open, his best mark at a major.
Halep advances to U.S. Open 4th round for 1st time in 5 years
Simona Halep fought through a marathon first-set tiebreaker and eventually beat Elena Rybakina 7-6 (11), 4-6, 6-3 to reach the U.S. Open fourth round for the first time in five years.
She eventually won it when Rybakina double-faulted, then worked her way to the round of 16 for the first time since reaching the quarter-finals in 2016.
Halep, a two-time Grand Slam champion, had lost in the first round of the U.S. Open in both 2017 and 2018.
Rybakina, the No. 19 seed, was a quarterfinalist at the French Open, where she beat Serena Williams.
Sabalenka cruises against Collins
Aryna Sabalenka is on her way to face her Grand Slam doubles championship partner after she knocked off Danielle Collins 6-3, 6-3 at Louis Armstrong Stadium.
She's into the second week of the U.S. Open for the first time since 2018.
Sabalenka reached the semifinals at Wimbledon this year. She's ranked No. 2 in the world and five of her 10 career WTA titles have come in the last 18 months.
Sabalenka says "it's always tough matches" when she plays against Mertens. Sabalenka has won five of the seven career meetings against Mertens.
