Top-seeded Simona Halep left us in the first round and second-seeded Caroline Wozniacki did the same in the second round. The 2018 Australian Open champion came into the tournament nursing injuries, which could’ve impacted her poor performance in the straight-sets loss to Ukraine’s Lesia Tsurenko (4-6, 2-6).
US Open 2018 WINNER!
Defending US Open champion Sloane Stephens is now the highest remaining seed in the women’s draw. Her next opponent? Two-time US Open finalist Victoria Azarenka.
Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer had no such problems, handling their second-round assignments with relative ease. Federer dispatched the Frenchman, Benoit Paire in three sets (7-5, 6-4, 6-4), whereas Djokovic lost a tie-break but was otherwise comfortable against Tennys Sandgren (6-1, 6-3, 6-7, 6-2). The two are on a quarter-final collision course, which will happen if they win their upcoming third round matches versus Nick Kyrgios and Richard Gasquet.
US Open 2018 WINNER!
In other news, Thursday’s results saw three seeded players wave goodbye to the tournament. Pablo Carreno Busta (12) retired in the fifth set against Joao Sousa, Fabio Fognini (14) was defeated in four sets by John Millman and South Korean Hyeon Chung (23) was knocked out by Mikhail Kukushkin. The biggest surprise in the ladies section, other than Wozniacki’s elimination, was Aliaksandra Sasnovich defeating 11th seeded Daria Kasatkina (6-2, 7-6). The young Russian played in both the French Open and the Wimbledon quarter-finals.
US Open Friday schedule
Rafael Nadal will measure his form against the dangerous youngster Karem Khachanov. Milos Raonic will try to get the better off a surging Stanislas Wawrinka, while 3rd seeded Juan Martin del Potro takes on Fernando Verdasco. Earlier in the day, Kevin Anderson faces Denis Shapovalov and Borna Coric clashes with Daniil Medvedev.
US Open 2018 WINNER!
Serena Williams vs. Venus Williams headlines all of Friday’s matches. Serena leads the all-time series, having beaten her older sister 17 times in 29 matches, including their last US Open meeting back in 2015. Venus Williams won their last head-to-head clash, which took place in Indian Wells (6-3, 6-4).
