NEW YORK – The Latest on the U.S. Open tennis tournament (all times EDT):
9:10 p.m.
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Serena Williams' drive for her 24th major championship continued with a 6-2, 6-4 win over Margarita Gasparyan to advance to the third round of the U.S. Open.
Williams improved her career record to 20-0 in the second round at Flushing Meadows and will play Sloane Stephens in the next round. Williams leads the series 5-1.
Wearing crowns on her sneakers, Williams had 27 winners and seven aces to put away Gasparyan.
Williams has won 23 Grand Slam singles titles, the most in the professional era and one shy of Margaret Court’s mark of 24. She’s won the U.S. Open six times and finished runner-up each of the last two years. Her opening win was her 102nd in the U.S. Open, breaking a tie with Chris Evert for most in the professional era, which started in 1968.
She improved to 5-2 since tennis resumed from the pandemic break.
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8:55 p.m.
Daniil Medvedev beat Australian Christopher O’Connell 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 to advance to the third round of the U.S. Open.
The third-seeded Medvedev won under the closed roof of Louis Armstrong Stadium because of rain. He's in the third round for the third straight year.
Medvedev was the 2019 runner-up. Medvedev won again in front of another empty stadium, a year after the crowd turned on him on the Russian relished his role as the tournament villain and taunted fans after wins.
He said it was “sad” to play a night session without fans.
Play on all of the courts other than Ashe and Armstrong was suspended for the night because of rain.
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7:35 p.m.
The U.S. Open was hit with rain, forcing the roof to close in matches involving Daniil Medvedev and Serena Williams.
Daniil Medvedev won the first set against Christopher O’Connell when the roof had to be closed in the second in Louis Armstrong Stadium. The start of Williams’ match against Margarita Gasparya was briefly delayed while the roof was shut at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
6:15 p.m.
Sloane Stephens continued her path toward a second U.S. Open championship with a dominant 6-2, 6-2 win over Olga Govortsova.
Stephens wore a “No Justice/No Peace” mask for her post-match interview.
The 26th-seeded Stephens won at Flushing Meadows in 2017. She won two straight matches after entering the tournament with a 1-7 record in 2020 and she had lost in the first round in last year’s U.S. Open.
She could face Serena Williams in the third round. Williams plays later in the night against Russian Margarita Gasparyan.
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5:30 p.m.
Matteo Berrettini produced a memorable shot at the U.S. Open — and a reminder that the rules of tennis don’t say the ball must go over the net. Around the net is just fine, too.
At 5-all in the third set of his third-round victory, the 2019 semifinalist sprinted to his right, far wide of the doubles alley, to get to a ball that seemed completely out of reach and somehow laced a forehand that went between the net post and the chair umpire, curling in for a winner.
In a wonderful display of “act like you’ve been there” vibes, Berrettini simply turned around and strutted away. No wild celebration.
There was still a match to win, and soon enough it was over, with the sixth-seeded Italian beating Ugo Humbert 6-4, 6-4, 7-6 (6).
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4:55 p.m.
Vasek Pospisil beat fellow Canadian Milos Raonic 6-7 (1), 6-3, 7-6 (4), 6-3 to advance to the third round of the U.S. Open.
Pospisil has been strong since returning from surgery last year on a herniated disk and helped Canada reach the 2019 Davis Cup final. He was strong over the last three sets to hold off the 25th-seeded Raonic.
It’s been a strong start at Flushing Meadows for the Canadians. Montreal’s Felix Auger-Aliassime and Denis Shapovalov of Toronto also won their men’s opening matches to send four men into the second round for the first time since 1959.
Pospisil is into the third round of the U.S. Open for the first time in his career. Raonic has never advanced past the third round of this tournament. He seemed poised for better things after reaching the final of the Western & Southern Open.
Pospisil next plays No. 8 Roberto Bautista Agut. Pospisil and No. 1-ranked Novak Djokovic would be the co-presidents of a new group they are trying to set up to represent men’s professional tennis players.
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1:55 p.m.
Second-seeded Dominic Thiem earned a spot in the third round of the U.S. Open with a 6-3, 6-3, 6-1 win over over Sumit Nagal. Thiem, who turned 27 on Thursday, faces 2014 U.S. Open champion Marin Cilic in the next round.
On the women's side, ninth-seeded Johanna Konta had an early exit at Flushing Meadows. Romania’s Sorana Cîrstea knocked off Konta 2-6, 7-6, 6-4 to earn her spot in the third round.
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1:10 p.m.
Reigning Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin has won her second-round match at the U.S. Open against unseeded Leylah Fernandez 6-4, 6-3.
Seeded No. 2, Kenin had more winners than unforced errors and never faced a break point. The American has lost in the third round at the Open each of the past three years, and will try to snap that streak Saturday.
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Amanda Anisimova has won a matchup of American teenagers, rallying past wild card Katrina Scott 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 in the second round of the U.S. Open.
The 19-year-old Anisimova, a surprise semifinalist at the French Open last year, steadied her game in the second set and pulled away. The 16-year-old Scott is ranked 637th and was coming off her first tour-level victory in the opening round Tuesday when she made her debut in the main draw of a Grand Slam.
Anisimova, who is seeded 22nd, won the girls’ singles at the Open in 2017.
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12:55 p.m.
Tsvetana Pironkova has pulled off an upset to reach the third round at the U.S. Open, her first tournament after a three-year break to focus on motherhood.
Pironkova, who has no ranking because of her layoff, beat No. 10-seeded Garbiñe Muguruza 7-5, 6-3.
A 32-year-old Bulgarian, Pironkova left the women’s tour to give birth to her son Alexander in April 2018. She is playing in her 12th Open but her first since 2016, and it's her first tournament since Wimbledon in 2017.
She finished with an ace for her 22nd victory against a top-20 player.
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11:25 a.m.
The fourth day of play is underway at the U.S. Open, with Serena Williams, reigning Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin, Andy Murray and Dominic Thiem among those scheduled to take the court. Williams faces Margarita Gasparyan, who is ranked No. 117.
The forecast calls for partly cloudy skies with a high of 76 degrees.
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