Germany’s Alexander Zverev scored three wins over Spain’s Albert Ramos-Vinolas, setting him in a good position to make the U.S. Open final for a second year in a row. He previously won the gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics. The Associated Press has the story:
Petra Kvitova defeats Kristyna Pliskova
NEW YORK (AP) — The Latest on the U.S. Open tennis tournament (all times local):
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3:30 p.m.
Olympic gold medalist Alexander Zverev cruised to the third round of the U.S. Open with a 6-1, 6-0, 6-3 win over Albert Ramos-Vinolas.
Zverev is trying to make the U.S. Open final for the second straight year. He won the first two sets last year in the final against Dominic Thiem before losing the match in his first Grand Slam final.
Zverev won the gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics and is one of three players with four titles this season.
He needed only 74 minutes to win his 13th straight match.
On the women’s side, Petra Kvitova is headed to the third round of the U.S. Open after a 7-6 (7), 6-2 win over Kristyna Pliskova.
The two-time Wimbledon champion (2011, 2014) improved to 31-13 at Flushing Meadows but the 10th-seeded Kvitova has never advanced beyond the quarterfinals. She used nine aces to reach the third round for the 11th time in her career.
The Czech player now trails only 2020 finalist Victoria Azarenka for most U.S Open wins among women in the draw.
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1:55 p.m.
Women’s No. 1 seed Ash Barty advanced to the third round of the U.S. Open with a 6-1, 7-5 win over Clara Tauson.
Barty missed the tournament in 2020 because of the pandemic, staying home in Australia. The reigning Wimbledon champion, Barty had trouble closing out Tauson but survived and will try to reach the quarterfinals at Flushing Meadows for the first time.
Olympic gold medalist and 11th-seeded Belinda Bencic defeated Martina Trevisan 6-3, 6-1. Bencic reached the third round at the U.S. Open for the fifth time in her career. She reached the semifinals in 2019.
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12:25 p.m.
Women’s No. 1 seed Ash Barty has kicked off second-round action at the U.S. Open after the remnants of Hurricane Ida that swept through the Northeast delayed some matches by an hour.
Barty’s match against Clara Tauson started on time at Arthur Ashe Stadium under a sunny sky. Barty missed the tournament in 2020 because of the pandemic, staying home in Australia.
The U.S. Tennis Association said any fans with tickets for Thursday who could not attend the U.S. Open because of the lingering effects of the storm were eligible for an exchange for a comparable ticket to a session later in the tournament. The USTA encouraged fans attending Thursday’s matches to use public transportation.
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11:50 a.m.
The start of play at the U.S. Open is being delayed at least an hour a day after the remnants of Hurricane Ida swept through the Northeast.
The U.S. Tennis Association said it needed to “evaluate the readiness of our site” on Thursday.
Matches that were supposed to begin at 11 a.m. were being postponed at least until noon.
The U.S Open faced numerous interruptions Wednesday night caused by heavy rain and wind from the remnants of the hurricane. Diego Schwartzman won a match that started at Louis Armstrong Stadium and was moved to Arthur Ashe Stadium after a break of nearly 2 1/2 hours while another match finished.
Heavy rain that made its way into Louis Armstrong Stadium despite the closing of the retractable roof forced U.S. Open organizers to call off play for the day at that arena.
Top-seeded Novak Djokovic was scheduled to play a second-round match against Tallon Griekspoor at night. Djokovic is trying to become the first man to win all four Grand Slam tournaments in the same year since 1969.
