Another day, another upset
Shapovalov knocks off No. 8 Tsonga, while Pospisil, Bouchard dispatched
NEW YORK — Canada’s Denis Shapovalov advanced into the third round of the U.S. Open Wednesday night after a 6-4, 6-4, 7-6 (3) victory over eighth seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France. The 18-year-old from Richmond Hill, Ont., will next face Kyle Edmund of Britain.
Shapovalov, ranked No. 69 in the world, started the match strong at Arthur Ashe Stadium by breaking Tsonga’s serve on the first game of the opening set. Both players held serve for the rest of the set.
The Canadian had a big break in the second set went Tsonga double-faulted to let Shapovalov go up 4-3. He used that momentum to hold on and take a 2-0 set lead.
Shapovalov once again broke Tsonga to put him up 4-3 in the third set, but the Frenchman got it back when Shapovalov was serving for the match to tie the set at 5-5. The third set went to a tiebreak that Shapovalov dominated to win the match in just over two hours 11 minutes.
Eugenie Bouchard of Montreal fell 7-6 (2), 6-1 to Russia’s Evgeniya Rodina. Facing double match point, Bouchard sent a backhand into the net as her record dropped to 12-17 on the season. Bouchard, ranked 76th in the world, has failed to make it past the second round of her last eight tournaments, starting with a second-round exit at the French Open. The 23-year-old Bouchard made 46 unforced errors, compared to 18 for Rodina.
Vancouver’s Vasek Pospisil retired from his match with Spain’s Fernando Verdasco after losing the first set 6-2. Pospisil, who has been bothered by back pain and struggled through the opening set, met briefly with trainers during the changeover before withdrawing.
The most noteworthy second-round loss on Wednesday was by No. 4 Alexander Zverev, a 20-year-old German who, despite his lofty seeding and considerable potential, has only once been as far as the fourth round at a major. He was beaten by Borna Coric 3-6, 7-5, 7-6 (1), 7-6 (4).
Fifth-seeded Marin Cilic of Croatia defeated Florian Mayer of Germany by the same score in all three sets, 6-3, 6-3, 6-3.
Dominic Thiem and Grigor Dimitrov made quick work of their opponents. The sixth-seeded Thiem beat Australian Alex de Minaur 6-4, 6-1, 6-1 on Wednesday and No. 7 Dimitrov followed him in the Grandstand with a 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 victory over Vaclav Safranek of the Czech Republic.
Also advancing were No. 15 Tomas Berdych, who beat American Ryan Harrison in straight sets, No. 18 Gael Monfils, who swept past fellow Frenchman Jeremy Chardy, and another Frenchman, No. 30 Adrian Mannarino, a straight-sets winner over Lithuanian Ricardas Berankis.
No. 14 Nick Kyrgios was unable to overcome shoulder pain or fellow Australian John Millman in falling 6-3, 1-6, 6-4, 6-1.
No. 22 Fabio Fognini and No. 26 Richard Gasquet were also upset.
Meanwhile, Maria Sharapova overcame a shaky start to reach the U.S. Open’s third round.
The five-time major champion got better and better as the match wore on and came back to beat 59th-ranked Timea Babos of Hungary 6-7 (4), 6-4, 6-1 in two hours 19 minutes.
Third-seeded Garbine Muguruza of Spain beat Ying-Ying Duan of China, 6-4, 6-0.
Fourth-seeded Ukrainian Elina Svitolina, whose match was stopped Tuesday as she faced a second-set tiebreaker, lost that when she returned before beating Katerina Siniakova 6-0, 6-7 (5), 6-3. No. 14 Kristina Mladenovic of France was upset, falling 6-3, 6-2 to Romania’s Monica Niculescu.
Venus Williams reached the third round for the seventh Grand Slam tournament in a row. Williams was broken while serving for each set, but played well enough to hold off her big-hitting — and much younger — opponent, beating 20-year-old Oceane Dodin of France 7-5, 6-4.