Eighth-seeded Ben Shelton delivered 44 winners on Wednesday while notching a 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (3), 7-5 victory over Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz to advance to the third round of the U.S. Open in New York.

Shelton was pushed as Hurkacz won the second set before the American pulled through in a third-set tiebreaker en route to the victory under the roof at Arthur Ashe Stadium.

“I am super happy with the way the match went,” Shelton said on-court. “It was a battle until the end and I thought Hubi played outstanding today. It was really tough to deal with everything he was throwing at me and if I was commentating, I would talk about how loud this crowd was from start to finish.”

Hurkacz had a 14-6 edge in aces and hit 47 winners to 43 unforced errors. He saved 8 of 11 break points but fell to 0-7 all time in U.S. Open second-round matches.

Shelton committed 35 unforced errors and saved 5 of 7 break points in a match that lasted nearly 3 1/2 hours.

It marks the fourth straight year in which Shelton has advanced to the third round. He was a semifinalist in 2023.

Shelton will face Canada’s Denis Shapovalov, who swept France’s Luca Van Assche 6-0, 6-4, 7-6 (7) on Wednesday, in the third round.

No. 2 seed Carlos Alcaraz overcame an early hiccup to run his winning streak at grand slam events to 16 with a 4-6, 6-0, 6-3, 6-2 defeat of Portugal’s Jaime Faria in the final match of the day.

After a failed break point up 3-2 in the third set, Alcaraz was broken on the way to dropping the opening set. He responded by winning eight straight games across the second and third sets, and bounced back from the only other time he was broken in the third set with an immediate break right back.

“Tough match for me,” Alcaraz said after the match. “(In the first set), I was in a rush (with my serve). I didn’t take time, and I think that caused me to give up the break. … After that, I tried to be focused, tried to stay calm and think that good things are going to happen again.”

The Spaniard grew into the match, pairing 23 winners against 11 unforced errors in the final two sets after he had 20 and 18, respectively, in the first two sets. The serve still left something to be desired for the reigning champion, who managed just three aces against four double faults while hitting on 62% of his first serves.

Among Wednesday’s other matches, No. 7 Daniil Medvedev of Russia sailed to a 6-1, 6-3, 7-5 victory over American Sebastian Gorzny.

Medvedev had a 14-3 edge in aces and won 86.8% of his first-serve points (46 of 53).

“I felt like the first two sets, he was probably not playing the best tennis of his life probably,” Medvedev said of Gorzny. “… The third set was much more competitive, really tough moments, tough points. At the same time, I feel like I had more break points and managed to put more pressure on him than he did on me.

“I managed to stay tough in important points and managed to win, so I found it pretty good.”

Medvedev next faces No. 26 Arthur Rinderknech after the Frenchman swept Spain’s Jaume Munar 7-6 (4), 6-2, 7-5.

Alex Michelsen scored a 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 triumph over No. 16 Brandon Nakashima in an All-American clash.

Michelsen had a 10-4 edge in aces while outplaying Nakashima.

“It feels great to beat a player like him,” Michelsen said of Nakashima. “He’s beaten so many good players. It’s big for my confidence. I’m going to try to take that and run with it.”

China’s Bu Yunchaokete routed No. 12 Spaniard Rafael Jodar 6-2, 6-1, 6-1. Bu never faced a break point and committed just 21 unforced errors to Jodar’s 37.

Spain’s Daniel Merida upset No. 23 Andrey Rublev of Russia 6-7 (3), 6-2, 6-4, 6-4.

No. 6 seed Alex de Minaur of Australia had few issues while rolling to a 6-2, 6-2, 6-4 victory over Italy’s Andrea Guerrieri.

He converted 28 of 34 first-serve points (82.4%) and had a 5-2 edge in aces.

After needing to rally for a five-set win in his first-round match, No. 11 Frances Tiafoe had a much easier time in his second-round clash with Japan’s Rei Sakamoto, coming away with a 6-3, 7-6 (2), 7-5 sweep.

He’ll next face No. 22 Valentin Vacherot of Monaco, who beat Poland’s Kamil Majchrzak 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (3), 6-2.

No. 15 Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan coasted into the third round with a 6-3, 6-1, 6-1 defeat of France’s Adrian Mannarino that lasted just 80 minutes. He next draws Tommy Paul for a spot in the Round of 16 after the American pulled out a 6-2, 6-3, 5-7, 6-4 win over Dino Prizmic of Croatia.

In other second-round action, No. 18 Czech Jiri Lehecka bested Great Britain’s Toby Samuel 6-4, 6-2, 6-4, while No. 27 Tomas Martin Etcheverry ousted Jacob Fearnley of Great Britain in a 6-3, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 victory.

In first-round matches delayed from Tuesday due to weather, No. 31 Belgian Zizou Bergs eliminated Spain’s Carlos Taberner 6-3, 3-6, 6-2, 6-2 and No. 32 Ignacio Buse of Peru outlasted Marcos Giron for a 3-6, 6-3, 6-3, 6-7 (6), 6-1 triumph.

–Field Level Media