Day 3 of the 2018 US Open claimed two big names – one each in the men’s and women’ singles draws – as Andy Murray and Garbiñe Muguruza, five Grand Slam titles between them, faced the end of their Flushing Meadows campaigns. Rafael Nadal, Juan Martin del Potro and Elina Svitolina had no such trouble on the show courts of the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, but on the opening day of doubles play, the top-seeded men’s duo of Oliver Marach and Mate Pavić bowed out.
Here’s a look at some of the headlines from an eventful Day 3 around the NTC grounds.
Serena, Venus win to set up third-round showdown: Venus and Serena Williams did their parts to fulfill one of the major talking points of this year’s women’s singles draw; seeded No. 16 and 17, respectively, the sisters will square off in Round 3 in their earliest ever meeting at the US Open.
Venus, who won back-to-back titles in Flushing Meadows (2000-01) stepped to the line first, dismissing the flashy Italian Camila Giorgi, 6-4, 7-5, in her first match in the new Louis Armstrong Stadium. Opening the Arthur Ashe Stadium evening session, sister Serena dropped only four games against Germany’s Carina Witthoeft to set up a 30th tour-level meeting with her older sister. Serena leads the head-to-head, 17-12, with a 10-5 edge in Grand Slam play and a 3-2 record at the US Open.
Garbiñe Muguruza stunned by 22-year-old qualifier: Karolina Muchova stunned the two-time Grand Slam champion with a dazzling display of all-court tennis. The Spanish star won the opening five games of the match, but Muchova raised her game from there as she got comfortable on the Louis Armstrong stage in just the third WTA Tour-level match of her young career.
Andy Murray’s return ends in defeat to Fernando Verdasco: Prior to the tournament, Murray said that he didn’t feel as if he was a contender for the title. His words proved prophetic, as he was ousted in Round 2 by No. 31-seeded Fernando Verdasco. The 2012 champion did not go down without a fight, as it took Verdasco three match points to close out the 7-5, 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 victory – only his second win (and first in almost 10 years) against the 2012 US Open champion.
Sloane Stephens survives challenge from Grand Slam debutant: After dropping the opening set, 6-4, to 21-year-old qualifier Anhelina Kalinina, defending champion Sloane Stephens was two games away from an early US Open exit at 5-all in the second. But the French Open finalist won the next two games in Arthur Ashe Stadium to push the match to a decider, and after a 10-minute heat break, she cruised to a 6-2 final-set victory.
In one of the marquee matches of Round 3, Stephens will take on two-time US Open finalist Victoria Azarenka, who breezed past No. 25 seed Daria Gavrilova, 6-1, 6-2, on Court 17.
Isner wins five-setter: Another major, another epic five-setter from John Isner. The Texas resident defeated Argentina’s Nicolas Jarry in the Grandstand in a battle that clocked in at three hours and 38 minutes. Isner struck 38 aces in the match, bringing his career tally to 10,655 – ahead of Roger Federer by ten, and trailing only Ivo Karlovic’s 12,936 on the all-time list. Isner’s best showing in New York was a quarterfinal appearance in 2011, when he lost to Andy Murray.
Dominic Thiem and Denis Shapovalov also went the distance to win in five sets on Day 3.
The bottom halves of the men’s and women’s singles draws will complete the third-round field on Day 4, with Federer, Novak Djokovic and Angelique Kerber among the highlights. Men’s and women’s doubles action will also continue, wrapping up Round 1, while a fifth event, the mixed doubles competition, gets underway.
