Casper Ruud, the 2022 US Open runner-up, was eradicated when Zhang Zhizhen turned the primary Chinese language man to beat a participant within the prime 5 of the ATP rankings.
Zhang upset the No. 5 seed 6-4, 5-7, 6-2, 0-6, 6-2 to succeed in the third spherical of a Grand Slam match for the second time. It was his second five-set victory to open this match after he misplaced his first 4 five-setters.
He wasn’t discouraged by these earlier losses, with the breakthrough lastly approaching Monday when he outlasted J.J. Wolf in 4 1/2 hours.
Zhang turned the primary Chinese language man to compete in the primary draw at Wimbledon within the skilled period when he certified in 2021. He certified final 12 months on the US Open, becoming a member of Wu Yibing as the primary males from their nation in the primary draw of the 12 months’s remaining Grand Slam match.
The 26-year-old Zhang reached the third spherical of the French Open in June earlier than falling to Ruud, who had been to the finals in three of the final six Grand Slam occasions.
Ruud, who misplaced to Carlos Alcaraz final 12 months in Flushing Meadows, is the highest-ranked Norwegian within the historical past of the ATP rankings, which date to 1973. He had reached No. 2 final 12 months and is at the moment No. 5.
However after dropping the fourth set in simply 23 minutes, Zhang broke Ruud’s serve to open the ultimate set, including a second for a 4-1 lead.
Zhang will face Rinky Hijikata of Australia within the third spherical.
In the meantime, Caroline Wozniacki clearly made the fitting selection to return out of retirement and check out her hand at tennis once more after 3 1/2 years, making it to the third spherical at Flushing Meadows by beating two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova 7-5, 7-6 (5) in Arthur Ashe Stadium.
The 33-year-old from Denmark received the 2018 Australian Open and reached No. 1 within the rankings – she’s at the moment No. 623 – throughout her first stint on tour. Wozniacki left the game in early 2020 to start out a household, and later frolicked working as a TV analyst, and now she and former NBA participant David Lee are the mother and father of two kids.
She returned to competitors this month and now could be again at Flushing Meadows for the primary time since 2019.
Wozniacki was the runner-up on the US Open in 2009, when she misplaced to Kim Clijsters within the title match, and 2014, when she misplaced to her good pal Serena Williams.
Subsequent up will probably be a match in opposition to 2020 US Open semifinalist and 2021 Australian Open finalist Jennifer Brady, an American who lately got here again to the tour after two years off due to accidents.
Novak Djokovic and Iga Swiatek rolled to straight-set victories to maneuver into the third spherical, preventing not solely their opponents however sticky, 85-degree Fahrenheit (29-degree Celsius) climate on the most popular day on the match to date.
“That is why we prepare a number of hours a day in humid, sizzling situations so we could be prepared for no matter awaits you on courtroom,” the second-seeded Djokovic mentioned after a 6-4, 6-1, 6-1 victory in Arthur Ashe Stadium over 76th-ranked Bernabe Zapata Miralles of Spain.
Swiatek, the top-seeded defending champion from Poland, had solely barely extra hassle in her 6-3, 6-4 victory over 322nd-ranked Australian Daria Saville in Louis Armstrong Stadium. Swiatek has by no means misplaced in a serious to a participant outdoors the highest 100.
Within the largest upset of the day, seventh-seeded Stefanos Tsitsipas fell within the second spherical to 128th-ranked Swiss qualifier Dominic Stricker 7-5, 6-7 (2), 6-7 (5) 7-6 (6), 6-3.
Earlier, Coco Gauff cruised into the third spherical with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over 16-year-old Russian Mirra Andreeva.
The sixth-seeded American approached the online 18 occasions, successful 15 of these factors, and he or she credited that newfound web recreation after struggling to beat German Laura Siegemund in three units within the first spherical.
Gauff subsequent faces Thirty second-seeded Elise Mertens of Belgium, who got here again to beat American Danielle Collins 3-6, 7-6 (9), 6-1.
Elsewhere, Dominic Thiem, the 2020 US Open champion, retired quickly after dropping a first-set tiebreaker to American Ben Shelton, and French wild card Benjamin Bonzi defeated Twenty eighth-seeded Christopher Eubanks 7-6 (6), 2-6, 6-2, 7-6 (7), ending the hopes of an American who made a shocking run to the Wimbledon quarterfinals.
Fourth-seeded Elena Rybakina superior to the third spherical in a walkover when Australian Ajla Tomljanovic withdrew earlier than the match; Tenth-seeded Karolina Muchova beat Magdalena Frech of Poland 6-3, 6-3; and Fifteenth-seeded Belinda Bencic of Switzerland downed British qualifier Yuriko Lily Miyazaki 6-3, 6-3.
