The top four seeds in action on Wednesday at the U.S. Open advanced to the third round in New York, while six seeded players lost and another withdrew.
Second-seeded Carlos Alcaraz of Spain breezed past Italy’s Mattia Bellucci 6-1, 6-0, 6-3. No. 4 Taylor Fritz produced a 4-6, 7-6 (3), 6-2, 6-4 win over South Africa’s Lloyd Harris. No. 7 Novak Djokovic of Serbia, a four-time U.S. Open champion, rallied past American Zachary Svajda 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-3, 6-1, and No. 6 Ben Shelton dumped Spain’s Pablo Carreno Busta 6-4, 6-2, 6-4.
Meanwhile, No. 5 seed Jack Draper was forced to withdraw due to an arm injury, while No. 11 Holger Rune of Denmark, No. 12 Casper Ruud of Norway, No. 16 Jakub Mensik of the Czech Republic, No. 18 seed Alejandro Davidovich Fokina of Spain and No. 30 Brandon Nakashima were all ousted.
Alcaraz, the 2022 champion in New York, is pursuing his sixth major title. The four games he lost on Wednesday were the fewest in his 17 U.S. Open career.
“I played great from the beginning to the last ball,” Alcaraz said in his on-court interview. “I know Mattia’s level and today wasn’t his day, but I tried to make the most of his mistakes, trying to be in the match getting a good rhythm.”
Alcaraz, who lost to Botic Van Zandschulp in the second round in 2024, will face No. 32 Luciano Darderi of Italy in the third round.
Djokovic reached the third round of the U.S. Open for the 19th time in his career, a record he now shares with Roger Federer. Djokovic, who has never lost in the first two rounds at the New York tournament, next will meet Great Britain’s Cameron Norrie.
Shelton came up with 42 winners in his triumph and broke Carreno Busta in six of seven opportunities. He will face France’s Adrian Mannarino in the third round.
Draper, who made his deepest Grand Slam run to the semifinals of last year’s U.S. Open, had been transparent about being in recovery from a bone bruise on his left arm. He announced the news on X before his scheduled second-round match against Belgium’s Zizou Bergs, who advanced to the third round via walkover.
“I’m sorry to say I’ll be withdrawing from the US open,” the British No. 1 posted on X Wednesday. “I tried my very best to be here and give myself every chance to play but the discomfort in my arm has become too much and I have to do what is right and look after myself. Thank you for all the support.”
Belgium’s Raphael Collignon upset Ruud in a thriller that lasted 3 1/2 hours. Collignon, who overcame 17 double-faults and 61 unforced errors, broke Ruud at 5-5 in the fifth set and then clinched the win on his third match point to advance to the third round of a Grand Slam for the first time in his career.
“It was difficult,” Collignon said. “Casper is one of the toughest players in the world, and he wasn’t missing anything. My coach just told me to stay aggressive and take my chances when they came.”
France’s Arthur Rinderknech eliminated Davidovich Fokina 6-4, 3-6, 2-6, 6-2, 6-3. The result came just over two weeks after Rinderknech collapsed during a Cincinnati Open match and was forced to retire.
No. 20 Jiri Lehecka of the Czech Republic defeated Argentina’s Tomas Martin Etcheverry 3-6, 6-0, 6-2, 6-4, and will face Collignon in the third round.
Rune dropped a five-setter to Germany’s Jan-Lennard Struff, 7-6 (5), 2-6, 6-3, 4-6, 7-5, in 3 hours, 25 minutes.
But that did not compare to the 4-hour, 23 minute marathon in which Mensik came up short, falling to France’s Ugo Blanchet. In a wild scene on Court 7, Blanchett, ranked No. 184, defeated Mensik, 6-7 (2), 7-6 (5), 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7).
Nakashima also fell in a long five-set match. Switzerland’s Jerome Kym, ranked No. 175, defeated the Californian, 4-6, 7-6 (2), 7-5, 3-6, 7-6 (8).
No. 17 Frances Tiafoe of the United States, No. 21 Tomas Machac of the Czech Republic, and Darderi all advanced to the third round, as did unseeded Norrie and Frenchmen Mannarino and Benjamin Bonzi.
–Field Level Media
