Fifteen-year-old US sensation Coco Gauff on Thursday set up an eye-catching US Open showdown with defending champion Naomi Osaka, while Rafael Nadal received a walkover into the third round.
Meanwhile, Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Simona Halep crashed out early, the Taiwanese falling 6-1, 4-6, 7-6 (7/2) to Czech Karolina Muchova, and the Wimbledon champ to 116th-ranked Taylor Townsend.
Gauff defeated Hungarian qualifier Timea Babos 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 to become the youngest player in the last 32 at a US Open since Anna Kournikova in 1996.
Photo: AP
Asked about her impending clash with world No. 1 Osaka, Gauff said her primary focus was yesterday’s doubles match with 17-year-old partner Caty McNally.
Nadal advanced without striking a ball when injury-plagued Australian Thanasi Kokkinakis pulled out of their scheduled evening tie with a right shoulder problem.
The Spanish 18-time Grand Slam winner is to meet South Korean qualifier Chung Hyeon for a spot in the last 16.
His path to a fourth title, already helped with rivals Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer on the opposite side of the draw, cleared further having already seen four top-10 rivals dumped out in the first round.
Sixth seed Alexander Zverev is the highest-ranked player remaining on his side of the draw, as the German survived a second five-set marathon by outlasting American Frances Tiafoe 6-3, 3-6, 6-2, 2-6, 6-3 to equal his best US Open run.
Townsend upended women’s fourth seed Halep 2-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7/4), the Romanian consigned to another premature exit at Flushing Meadows, having been knocked out in the opening round in 2017 and last year.
“I was not inspired at all today, but I fought,” Halep said.
“This means a lot. It has been a long journey,” said a tearful Townsend, who matched her run to the French Open third round on her Grand Slam debut in 2014.
Osaka proved too strong for 53rd-ranked Magda Linette of Poland, sweeping to a 6-2, 6-4 victory.
“I feel like I had my moments where I played really well,” Osaka said. “I think the main thing for me was that I was able to adjust whenever I figured out something was going wrong.”
Among the celebrities watching her match were basketball legend Kobe Bryant and former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick.
“I’m really grateful they came out,” Osaka said. “It’s really cool. I honestly just wanted to finish as fast as possible because I didn’t want them to be out in the sun too long.”
Men’s fifth seed Daniil Medvedev was struck down by a cramp during a 6-3, 7-5, 5-7, 6-3 win over Bolivia’s Hugo Dellien.
“I’m not sure what happened today and why I started cramping suddenly,” Medvedev said. “I obviously thought at one point: ‘How did I win?’ I don’t know how I did.”
Stan Wawrinka beat Jeremy Chardy in four sets and is on a fourth-round collision course with Djokovic, while Australian 28th seed Nick Kyrgios rolled past 104th-ranked French wildcard Antoine Hoang 6-4, 6-2, 6-4.
Andrea Petkovic knocked out Czech sixth seed Petra Kvitova 6-4, 6-4, while 15th seed Bianca Andreescu and two-time runner-up Caroline Wozniacki also progressed.
In the mixed doubles first round, Taiwanese Chan Hao-ching and Australian Michael Venus overcame Slovenian Andreja Klepac and Ken Skupski of England 7-6 (7/4), 7-6 (7/5).
Additional reporting by staff writer
Manchester United on Tuesday confirmed Michael Carrick as interim manager until the end of the season, tasking him with leading the Red Devils back into the UEFA Champions League. “Having the responsibility to lead Manchester United is an honor,” said Carrick, 44, who won 12 major trophies in his 12-year playing career at United. The former midfielder previously had an unbeaten three-game stint as caretaker boss at Old Trafford in 2021. Carrick then took on his first permanent managerial role at second-tier Middlesbrough in October 2022 and was sacked in June last year after the club finished 10th in the
James Harden on Friday scored 31 points and came up big in overtime to help the Los Angeles Clippers erase a double-digit deficit on the way to a 121-117 NBA victory over the Toronto Raptors. Harden scored 16 points in the fourth quarter and overtime as the Clippers pushed their wining steak to five games despite the absence of star Kawhi Leonard with a sprained right ankle. The Clippers trailed by 11 entering the fourth quarter, but Harden drilled a pair of free-throws with 1:24 left in regulation to tie it and after misses from both teams, they went to
Dallas Mavericks rookie Cooper Flagg on Wednesday was ruled out for the second half of their 118-109 loss to the Denver Nuggets after the No. 1 pick sprained his left ankle in the first half. Flagg was called for a foul while defending against Peyton Watson and turned the ankle as he fell to the floor with 6 minutes, 1 second left in the second quarter. Flagg limped to the bench and continued to the locker room, but returned for the final 2 minutes, 35 seconds before the break. The 19-year-old did not come out for the second half before the announcement that
Yassine Bounou on Wednesday saved two penalties, while Youssef en-Nesyri netted the decisive spot-kick as hosts Morocco secured a 4-2 shoot-out victory over Nigeria following a 0-0 draw in a tense Africa Cup of Nations semi-final in Rabat. Morocco, seeking their first continental title in 50 years, are to face 2021 winners Senegal in Sunday’s decider in Rabat, while Nigeria take on Egypt in the third-place playoff tomorrow. The 120 minutes before the shoot-out had few clear-cut chances for either side, but it was Morocco who created more opportunities, although they were denied by some fine saves from Nigeria goalkeeper Stanley Nwabali. Nigeria
RSS