Second-round play kicks off on Day 4 of the 2025 US Open, with three of the women’s top five seeds and two former US Open men’s champions headlining the day’s slate of play. Top-seeded Aryna Sabalenka, No. 4 seed Jessica Pegula and No. 5 seed Mirra Andreeva, along with four-time US Open champ Novak Djokovic and 2022 titlist Carlos Alcaraz all look to take a second step into this Flushing fortnight. Among the other top talents looking to go two-for-two on Day 4 of the singles main draw are 2024 US Open men’s finalist Taylor Fritz, 2022 Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina, two-time Slam finalist Jasmine Paolini, three-time major runner-up Casper Ruud, and an all-star American contingent highlighted by Ben Shelton, Taylor Townsend, Frances Tiafoe, and Emma Navarro. The first three days of play have claimed half of the field; those who remain know that in order to keep running, they need to keep winning. The race is on.
The US Open, is, of course, a marathon, not a sprint, and fourth-seeded Pegula has proven herself a rather adept distance runner. The 31-year-old American has reached at least the quarters of all four majors in her career, playing her way into her first Slam final here last year before losing a tough two-setter to Sabalenka. Through the first round here, the fourth seed owns a 53-26 lifetime mark at the majors, and her 19-8 record on the hard floors of Flushing is her best at any of the sport’s big four. Pegula has this year won three titles on three different surfaces and reached two more finals, but success at the Slams has been elusive. The American was ousted in the third round in Melbourne, the fourth round at Roland Garros, and the first round at Wimbledon. She’s likewise struggled this summer, winning just two matches in three hard-court events.
But Pegula seemed to find her form in her 6-0, 6-4 ousting of Mayar Sherif in round one, and she’ll look to continue to shape her advance today as she takes on 80th-ranked Anna Blinkova, who’s into the second round here for the first time in eight US Open main-draw appearances. The 26-year-old has been as far as the third round at the other three majors, and owns career wins over Belinda Bencic, Caroline Garcia and Elena Rybakina. Alongside Veronika Kudermetova, she reached the semifinals of women’s doubles here in 2020.
The American owns a 4-1 edge in their prior career meetings; Blinkova’s only win coming in the second round at Indian Wells in 2024. Pegula captured their most recent encounter with a straight-sets triumph at the Austin, Texas event earlier this year, which seems a much more logical outcome to today’s encounter. In a tight two, the fourth seed is on to round three.
Like his compatriot Pegula, Fritz also played his way into last year’s Flushing finale, only to be halted there by the relentless buzzsaw that is Jannik Sinner. His 2024 run made Fritz the first American man to contest a US Open final since Andy Roddick in 2006. Now the highest-ranking American and second-most-popular Taylor in this country, the 27-year-old has this year won a pair of tournament titles and reached the Wimbledon semis, losing a tight four-setter there to Alcaraz. The 2015 US Open boys champion has now reached at least the quarters of three of the four majors; falling short of that mark only at Roland Garros. Through the first round here, Fritz is 17-9 at the US Open, and owns a 223-139 career mark on hard court.
He’ll look to add one to the win column today against Lloyd Harris, a 31-year-old South African whose run to the quarterfinals here in 2021 is his best career showing at a Slam. That year, Harris knocked off both Denis Shapovalov and Reilly Opelka in his advance. Harris has struggled with injuries in recent years, undergoing both wrist and back surgeries, but he looked to be in fine form in his first-round win here over Sebastian Baez, winning 80 percent of his first-serve points and cashing in on six of 11 break point opportunities.
But a performance like that is going to be a lot tougher to pull off against Fritz’ explosive serve and lethal array of weaponry. There wouldn’t seem to be a thing that Harris can do to blunt the blunt force of the American. The two men have split a pair of career meetings, but the last of those was five years ago; Harris winning at the 2020 hard-court Antwerp event. At this stage and on this stage, it’s advantage, Fritz. In a convincing three, Fritz advances.
