US Open: Djokovic, Swiatek Reach Third Round
It was business as usual at the US Open with Novak Djokovic and Iga Swiatek marching confidently into the third round, while the day ended with a late run of shockers that saw Casper Ruud and Petra Kvitova dumped out of the tournament.
Djokovic was prevented from playing in the 2022 US Open due to being unvaccinated against COVID-19, but has looked right at home on Arthur Ashe Stadium court. A nine-time finalist at Flushing Meadows, the Serb was in ruthless form as he brushed aside Spain’s Bernabe Zapata Miralles 6-4 6-1 6-1.
Djokovic remains on course for a fourth US Open title that would pull him level with Margaret Court’s record haul of 24 Grand Slams.
Iga Swiatek Vs Daria Saville
US Open women’s defending champion Iga Swiatek also impressed in her thrilling match against Australian Daria Saville
However, the defending champion was made to work for a 6-3 6-4 win against Saville, who is fighting her way back to fitness from injury that has seen her world ranking tumble to number 322.
There were plenty of cheers rolling across the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center with Coco Gauff, Taylor Fritz and Frances Tiafoe moving on, as hopes of a homegrown winner continued to build.
But while results followed the form book for much of the day at the year’s final Grand Slam, shocks sprung up as the sun went down.
The biggest surprise was delivered by Zhang Zhizhen, who stunned last year’s runner-up and world number five Ruud 6-4 5-7 6-2 0-6 6-2 to became the first Chinese man to beat a top-five player since the introduction of the ATP rankings in 1973.
Swiss young gun Dominic Stricker delivered a shock by grinding out a 7-5 6-7(2) 6-7(5) 7-6(6) 6-3 win over Greek seventh seed Stefanos Tsitsipas for his first top-10 win.
