Quick Served: Day 5 — Survived & Advanced
We’ve got a lot of ground to cover in today’s recap.
Andy shares his thoughts on Coco Gauff’s early-match struggles, both physically and mentally, praises her for overcoming adversity, and teaches us a lesson in serving mechanics.
Your daily results rundown features a major champion who survives, another showing focus like Andy’s never seen, and a unique breakdown of the upset of the day.
Plus, the story behind Andy’s favorite fine from his time on tour. Don’t miss the full Day 5 recap!
*Results from end of play on August 28.
Primetime Recap
Gauff Grinds It Out
Coco Gauff battled serving struggles and nerves to pull out a straight-set win over Donna Vekic. Despite hitting seven double faults in the opening set, and wiping away tears during a changeover, she steadied herself to win 7-6 (5), 6-2. Afterward, an emotional Gauff thanked the Arthur Ashe crowd for getting her through. It was another gritty victory for the No. 3 seed this week, who admitted, “It’s kind of amazing I was able to get out of that one.”
From the mental and physical struggles on display, Andy said there’s a lot to unpack. Watch his full breakdown.
Fellow American Amanda Anisimova matched her best result at the US Open by advancing to the third round over Maya Joint. She’ll face Jaqueline Cristian on Saturday.
While many of you were sleeping…
…No. 14 seed Tommy Paul held on to beat Nuno Borges in a five-set thriller that ended close to 2 a.m. Paul recovered after blowing an early two-set lead and will next meet No. 23 Alexander Bublik, who impressed Andy in his win.
Other late night results: No. 3 Alexander Zverev and No. 8 Alex de Minaur won in straights while Daniel Altmaier came back to beat No. 26 Stefanos Tsitsipas in five, and Jaume Munar swept No. 31 Gabriel Diallo.
Women’s Recap
Swiatek’s Streak & Osaka’s Search
Iga Swiatek is now the only woman to have reached at least the third round at every Grand Slam this decade. After beating Suzan Lamens, who impressively won the second set, she’ll next face No. 29 Anna Kalinskaya.
Fellow multi-time major champion Naomi Osaka hopes to snap a streak in her next match. She’s looking to reach the fourth round at a slam since winning the Australian Open in 2021. To do so, she’ll need to beat No. 15 seed Daria Kasatkina.
No Major Shakeups
Though, some unseeded players are making noise. Two-time Grand Slam semifinalist Maria Sakkari is through and will face No. 18 Beatriz Haddad Maia, who reached the quarterfinals in New York last year.
World No. 107 Diane Parry is into the third round of consecutive majors and will face No. 27 Marta Kostyuk.
Laura Siegemund is also following up a solid showing at Wimbledon and will meet No. 13 Ekaterina Alexandrova in the third round.
In Doubles News: Venus Williams and Leylah Fernandez won their opening round match as did the top seeded pair of Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend.
Breaking Barriers. Thursday marked the 75th anniversary of Althea Gibson becoming the first Black player to compete in the US Open. Gibson is the inspiration behind this year’s theme: “75 years of breaking barriers”.
Men’s Recap
Sinner Leads Italian Surge
Jannik Sinner showed no problems getting past World No. 36 Alexei Popyrin, who typically plays well against top-ranked opponents. Sinner extends his streak of Grand Slam wins on hard-courts to 23. Another test looms against No. 27 Denis Shapovalov. No. 10 seed Lorenzo Musetti also won in straights.
No. 24 Flavio Cobolli joined his compatriots in the third round after winning the fifth-set tiebreak against Jenson Brooksby in Andy’s match of the day. Cobolli and Musetti will meet in round three.
Names To Know
Three qualifiers kept their dream runs alive on Thursday. First, World No. 435 Leandro Riedi showed all kinds of fight in an epic comeback win over No. 19 seed Francisco Cerundolo. After dropping the first two sets, Riedi took the next three.
Then, it was Kamil Majchrzak who also turned around a two-set deficit and beat Karen Khachanov, the No. 9 seed, in the fifth-set tiebreak. Majchrzak and Riedi play each other in the third round.
Meanwhile, Coleman Wong, who became the first player from Hong Kong to win a Grand Slam match, backed it up with a win over Adam Walton. He’ll square-off against No. 15 seed Andrey Rublev.
Are You Keeping Up With Quick Served ?
6 — Through the first two rounds, Emma Raducanu has dropped just six games, the least of all players still in the draw.
9 — Nine Americans reached the third round: Coco Gauff, Jessica Pegula, Emma Navarro, Amanda Anisimova, Ann Li, Taylor Fritz, Ben Shelton, Tommy Paul, and Frances Tiafoe.
9 & 7 — Daniel Altmaier is the player who reached the third round with the most time spent on court at the US Open (9 hours and 7 minutes).
Quick Served Day 4 poll results: 76% of respondents said Ben Shelton is the American man with the best shot at contending for the title.
Primetime Preview: Friday, August 29
7:00 PM: No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka vs. No. 31 Leylah Fernandez
7:00 PM: No. 7 Novak Djokovic vs. Cameron Norrie
8:30 PM: Jerome Kym vs. No. 4 Taylor Fritz
9:00 PM: Taylor Townsend vs. No. 5 Mirra Andreeva
All match times are in Eastern Time.
Friday’s Full Schedule of Play.
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