Key events
Right, that’s it from us for today, many thanks for your company. I’ll leave you with these match reports. And do join me for more of the same tomorrow. Bye!
Struff is asked how he recovered from the disappointment of those three double faults when serving for the match at 5-3. “It’s tough to serve out the match, I played a very bad game. I tried to refocus and get some energy back, so I’m very happy about that.” Up next for Struff: Novak Djokovic or Cameron Norrie, who meet in the night session. Taylor Fritz is also in action later, as he aims to end the American horror story on day six. Though at least on the women’s side, Ann Li currently leads Australia’s Priscilla Hon 5-3, after Pegula’s win earlier.
Struff shocks Tiafoe 6-4, 6-3, 7-6
So will it be match point or set point? Match point, as Tiafoe nets the return. Cue a collective New York sigh. But the crowd are on their feet when Tiafoe rams down an ace! 7-7. But Tiafoe comes off second best in the next exchange, one of the longest of the match, and Struff has a second match point. Crucially this is on the German’s serve. And he takes out Tiafoe, the 17th seed, with a huge first serve! Tiafoe follows Shelton in departing, on a disappointing day for the American men, and Struff, after all his injury problems and having to come through qualifying, has backed up his win over Rune from the second round.
… Tiafoe moves to 4-3, but two unreturned serves from Struff and it’s 5-4 to the German. Struff charges to the net on the next point .. and Tiafoe pulls off the lob! 5-5. The pair engage in a forehand face-off on the next point … and Struff eventually nets! Tiafoe has a set point on Struff’s serve … and Tiafoe’s forehand whistles wide! 6-6 as they change ends once more …
Tiafoe, his belief growing with every point, moves 2-0 ahead, before Struff gets the mini-break back for 2-1. The crowd think Tiafoe’s won the next point, but it’s out. 2-2. And then 3-2 Struff, after a brave, brave volley. They change ends at 3-3 …
Struff somehow manages to remove the lead from his racket and shoes and holds to 15. That showed some guts. And then the Struff of the first two and a half sets is back, as he pushes to 30-all on Tiafoe’s serve, perhaps two points from victory. Tiafoe, under immense pressure, fizzes a forehand pass for 40-30. Struff comes back for deuce. And Tiafoe takes the game with a cute drop shot! We’ve got ourselves a tie-break. Which is exactly what this set deserves.
But Struff, suddenly, is feeling the pressure, no doubt thinking about the magnitude of reaching the last 16 for the first time, and serves two double faults for 0-30. Make that three! He hadn’t hit a single double in the first two sets. And then at 0-40 down, he nets a forehand! He looks crushed. Tiafoe is resurgent, and swiftly holds for 5-5.
Tiafoe is again up against it on serve at 30-all. Struff senses his opportunity and goes for broke, but it doesn’t come off. 40-30 … which turns into deuce. Win the next two points and Struff will be serving for a place in the fourth round. Tiafoe tonks long and it’s Struff’s advantage. Tiafoe sorely needs a first serve … but he can’t land it … and, after making his second serve, eventually hits into the net! Struff breaks!
Big trouble for Big Foe on Grandstand, as last year’s semi-finalist, already two sets to love behind, drops break point down at 30-40, 2-3. Having just lost Shelton, the home crowd really don’t want to lose Tiafoe too. Tiafoe hauls himself back to deuce and goes on to hold. And he’s waving his racket like he’s won the set. He has come from two sets down to win before, by the way, at last year’s Wimbledon against Matteo Arnaldi, but Struff is serving with such purpose and holds for 4-3.
Celebrations for Cristina Bucsa on Court 17, where the Spaniard has come from a set down to take out the 19th seed Elise Mertens, 3-6, 7-5, 6-3. I think that makes it 14 seeds out on the women’s side. And we’re only at the first day of the third round. It’s like Wimbledon all over again.
Shelton’s retirement means Carlos Alcaraz’s quarter has opened up for the 2022 champion … just as Jannik Sinner’s did after Jack Draper’s injury. As if Alcaraz and Sinner need any extra assistance.
“When he started to have pain he was leading in this match, honestly he would probably have won. I don’t know what to say, but I wish him all the best,” says a shocked Mannarino, before coming up with one of the quotes of the tournament: “I’m 37 years old, it’s the first time I’m winning a match from the toilet”. Another first for the Frenchman, at his 15th US Open, is that he’s finally reached the last 16, where he’s got a winnable meeting against Jiri Lehecka. Not that Mannarino knows it; he never wants to find out who he’s playing until the morning of his matches.
Shelton retires injured against Mannarino
Mannarino has set point at 40-30. Shelton chips the return and charges forward … the tactic doesn’t come off. Mannarino takes the fourth set 6-4 and skips off court for a quick break before the decider … will Shelton ask for more treatment on his shoulder? He does. But perhaps the more pertinent question is will he carry on? Shelton is in tears, he’s clearly in a lot of pain. He’s never retired injured from a match before, and he really doesn’t want to have to in New York, at his favourite tournament, but he’s packing his rackets into his bag and looks as if he will call it quits when Mannarino returns to court. This is so tough to watch, especially given he’d just won the biggest title of his career in Toronto and expected big things of himself here. Mannarino is back and Shelton’s retirement is confirmed, as the sixth seed goes the way of the fifth seed Jack Draper. Ach.
Tiafoe just can’t shake Struff off, and Struff breaks for a 6-4, 6-3 lead. Having had to come through qualifying, Struff, the 35-year-old German, is a set away from backing up his win over Holger Rune in the previous round,
Shelton slumps two set points down on serve at 15-40. He admirably saves both – the second with a nerveless overhead – and it’s deuce. But Mannarino picks Shelton off after the American serve-volleys. Set point No 3. Which again comes and goes. Shelton is clutching that injured shoulder as he moves to his advantage – this effort is taking so much out of him – and two points later it’s set point No 4. Shelton saves it once more, just as Tiafoe, 6-4, 5-3 down, repels a set point for Struff. And Shelton finally holds! But Mannarino will still serve for the fourth set.
And now Shelton is broken, as Mannarino rips a backhand winner! Mannarino then backs up the break for 5-3. What chance will an ailing Shelton have if this match goes the distance?
… Mannarino holds from there for 3-3, just as Struff also silences the partisan crowd on Grandstand, breaking Tiafoe, clad in an all-red tiger print kit, for a 6-4, 3-2 lead. Tiafoe said his plan in 2025 was always to peak at the US Open, where he’s had some of the best results of his career, reaching the semi-finals in two of the past three years, but he’s going to have to do it the hard way to repeat that feat this time around.
Despite his shoulder issue, Shelton has hit four aces in this fourth set, which is more than in sets two and three combined. Another hold and he edges ahead for 3-2. He’ll be desperate to get this match done in four, so he can rest up and get some treatment before what would be a last-16 meeting with Jiri Lehecka. “It’s the worst pain I’ve felt in my life,” Shelton tells his dad between games. “Come forward more,” is Shelton Sr’s reponse. Shelton duly follows the instruction, winning a point at the net for 15-all, and then coming back from 40-15 to deuce …
That set point. Perhaps it was the post-set celebrations that did for his shoulder.
Shelton appears to be struggling to put his top back on after the timeout, so let’s see whether he can actually hit the ball. Mannarino quickly holds, before Shelton begins his service game with just an 80mph first serve. He looks to be testing the shoulder out, and he quickly ramps the serve up to about 120mph, so maybe he’ll be ok. And from 40-30 he bravely holds.
Uh oh. This doesn’t look good for Shelton. He’s clutching his left shoulder and asks for the physio mid-game. The umpire, Britain’s James Keothavong, accepts Shelton’s request, rather than making the American wait until the end of the game. It looks as if he’s pulled something. His dad Bryan, himself a former pro, looks fairly relaxed in the box, so perhaps he will be able to continue. Just as Struff does his stuff, taking the first set 6-4 against Tiafoe.
Elsewhere: another great American entertainer, Frances Tiafoe, is 5-3 down in the opening set against the German Jan-Lennard Struff, who’s still smashing down aces for fun at the age of 35. And Belgium’s Elise Mertens has been pulled back to one set all against Spain’s Cristina Bucsa.
Pegula’s victory wraps up the day session on Arthur Ashe, so most eyes are on Louis Armstrong, where Shelton is drinking in the applause of his home crowd as he breaks Mannarino after a quite remarkable point to take a two sets to one lead. Shelton looked down and out … but somehow scrambles to gets a defensive forehand back which lands bang on the sideline … and Mannarino, probably not expecting the ball to come back at him, nets! Shelton leads 6-3, 3-6, 6-4.
Pegula is so consistent – this is the fourth successive year she’s reached the fourth round or better – but does she have enough to beat the very best? She tends to defeat the players she should and lose to the ones she’s expected to – that said, she did have a couple of unexpected losses in the the buildup to this tournament, so she’ll be happy to have reached the second week with relative ease. As for Azarenka, she’s had some great moments on Arthur Ashe, having reached the final three times, the last time in 2020, but the 36-year-old won’t have today’s match on her New York showreel.
Pegula is asked how she snatched that second set:
I just tried to focus on going back to my strategy, things that were working well in the first set. I felt like I could still dig out the set for sure. I moved well, scrambled well, we train together in Florida so we know each other’s games so well. I could tell she was struggling physically so I wanted to keep her moving.
Pegula beats Azarenka 6-1, 7-5
Azarenka can’t get the ball into play. Four errant shots under pressure and Pegula holds to love. From a break and 5-4 down, Pegula now leads 6-5 and will be hoping to get this done in two sets. She’s two points away at 30-all on Azarenka’s serve – you’d say Azarenka deserves a tie-break for her efforts in this set while struggling with a left leg injury – but a tired forehand into the net gives Pegula match point. Azarenka’s second serve is soft, Pegula pounces on the return and Azarenka chops into the net. Pegula wins the battle of the former US Open finalists and is yet to drop a set this tournament.
As for Azarenka v Pegula, no sooner does Azarenka break, than she is broken serving for the second set. She’ll be kicking herself having worked so hard to get back into the match. It’s 5-5, after Pegula took the opener 6-1.
Thanks Rob. What a win that was for Vondrousova – remarkably her first against a top-10 opponent at a slam since her Wimbledon triumph in 2023. The Czech has been through so much since, including shoulder surgery and getting divorced, and she’ll next face another resurgent former Wimbledon champion in the last 16, Elena Rybakina. As for Paolini, having reached two slam finals last year, she’ll be disappointed not to go beyond the fourth round at a major this season. But it was always going to be so, so tough to match her breakout 2024.
Now it’s Pegula making the glaring errors, but can Azarenka capitalise and keep the match alive? She breaks to move 5-4 ahead in the second set and I’ll hand back to Katy to take you through to the end of the set – or match. Thanks for your time.
Azarenka has found some form out of nowhere and suddenly is asking questions of Pegula. But two badly timed double faults on deuce prove costly. The Belarusian loses a hard-fought service game and it is 4-4 in the second set. The American’s form dipped dramatically after she won the first set but she is looking stronger again now.
Mannarino wins the second set against Shelton 6-3 to level the match. The Frenchman has turned things round and is right in this absorbing contest now.
Marketa Vondrousova beats Jasmine Paolini 7-6, 6-1
That is mighty impressive stuff from Vondrousova who has fallen down the rankings after injury. Sad to see Paolini go but the No 7 seed will be back in the doubles.
Paolini loses her serve against Vondrousova to slip to the brink of defeat. She trails 5-1 in the second set and her hopes of recovering look forlorn.
Elise Mertens is 29 now and a former world No 1 in doubles. Her singles history is less impressive, but she has take the first set against Cristina Bucsa 6-3.
Paolini is in real trouble here against Vondrousova. She has been broken already in the second set and is 4-1 down having lost the first set tie-break.
Azarenka looks like she is battling an injured leg. And her ball toss is all over the place. But she hobbled through that service game to level the second set up at 1-1 against Pegula.
Over on Louis Armstrong, Mannarino has turned things around against Shelton after losing the first set. He’s 3-0 up in the second with a break and looking good.
Thanks Katy. A pleasure to be with you all tonight. Maybe my presence can bring an upturn in fortune for Azarenka. She is looking so frustrated at the moment …
Pegula, meanwhile, has charged through the first set 6-1 against Azarenka. With that, I’m off to grab some food. Rob is here to keep you company …
Paolini’s smile is gone as Vondrousova moves 2-0 and then 4-1 ahead despite a miscued lob from the Czech. Paolini reduces her arrears to 4-2 at the change of ends … but Vondrousova is such a canny competitor, with her mix of spins and slice, and it’s very quickly 6-2. Paolini pelts a winner to save the first set point … and is then absolutely pounding the ball at poor Vondrousova at the net on the second. So it’s 6-4 … and then first set Vondrousova when Paolini rams into the tramlines! The Italian is screaming at herself. Vondrousova looks so calm.
Like Alcaraz, Paolini plays with so much joy and energy, and while she hasn’t quite hit the heights that she did in her breakout 2024 when she reached two slam finals, she’s still had a very solid season. She gets to 30 on Vondrousova’s serve but can go no further, so we’re into a tie-break.
Vondrousova holds for 5-5. Paolini nudges ahead to 6-5. And speaking of Paolini, this is well worth a look (and read):
Paolini is pushing at 5-4 and deuce on Vondrousova’s serve. A 21-shot rally ends in Vondrousova’s favour. Phew. Meanwhile Pegula is already in charge against Azarenka, leading 4-1.
Shelton has had a strong summer, following up his quarter-final run at Wimbledon by winning his first Masters 1000 title, in Toronto, and he’s serving for the first set at 5-3. At a career-high world ranking of No 6, the 22-year-old could be a real contender this fortnight, at a tournament where he’s already reached the last four, and he’s got his game face on as he serves out the set to 15. An ominous stat for Mannarino: the 37-year-old is 0-22 against top-10 players at majors.
It’s all-change on the show courts. Just starting under the roof on Arthur Ashe it’s Jessica Pegula, last year’s runner-up, against the three-times finalist Victoria Azarenka. On Louis Armstrong, Pegula’s fellow American Ben Shelton leads 4-2 in the battle of the young lefty vs the veteran French lefty Adrian Mannarino, while on Grandstand it’s Jasmine Paolini against the former Wimbledon champ Marketa Vondrousova. It’s 3-3 in the opening set. I wish I had six eyes but two will have to do.
Rinderknech is on his knees as he completes a 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, 6-2 victory over his good friend. It’s a landmark win for the 30-year-old, who’s through to the fourth round of a grand slam for the first time. His prize/punishment is a last-16 meeting with Alcaraz.
It’s raining on one side of Flushing Meadows but not the other. Rinderknech is now a game away, leading 5-2, with Bonzi serving at 30-all. And Britain’s Sonay Kartal and Katie Boulter have just booked their place in the second round of the women’s doubles.
Raducanu’s been speaking to Sky’s Laura Robson after being outclassed by Rybakina:
It was very difficult. I didn’t get a chance to settle or feel any rhythm. But overall I think I’m heading in the right direction. It’s been a good swing in America. After Wimbledon I was straight into practice and I had some good results but against the top players I’ve got a lot of work to do. I look forward to heading out to Asia.
Dark clouds are hanging over Court 17 as Rinderknech moves to within two games of victory against Bonzi. And it’s got nothing to do with being the US Open’s “hash court”, but rather the ominous weather. He’ll hope he can complete the win over his fellow Frenchman before the possible showers come.
About 14,529 fans descend on Alcaraz for an autograph. Meanwhile news of another winner: Jiri Lehecka, the 20th seed, has ended the run of Belgium’s Raphael Collignon, who conquered Casper Ruud in the previous round on his US Open debut. Collignon said that was the best day of his life – but today came nowhere near to hitting those heights, as he lost 6-4, 6-4, 6-4.
Alcaraz speaks:
I’m not used to playing early, so my goal was to start focused. I think I did pretty well, and after that I kept it going. Great performance, so I’m proud about it. I’m not an early person so for me it’s difficult, but I played good. I felt something in my knee [when he called for the physio], but after five, six points it was gone.
Alcaraz defeats Darderi 6-2, 6-4, 6-0
Darderi is serving to stay in the match. 0-15. 0-30. 0-40, as Alcaraz comes up with a return to take the breath away. Darderi takes the next point for 15-40, but almost seemed halfway to the net to shake Alcaraz’s hand. He knows his time is nearly up. So he’s going for broke. It’s an approach that gets him to deuce, but Alcaraz creates a fourth match point, and this time Darderi hits long! Alcaraz whizzes into round four for the loss of only six games. He again opts for his golf swing celebration.
