Nadal closes out on a day of upsets
MIXED LUCK Spaniard first player to win under closed roof at Arthur Ashe stadium; Muguruza, Kuznetsova, Raonic ousted
French Open champion Garbine Muguruza and Wimbledon runner-up Milos Raonic were knocked out of the US Open on Wednesday as Novak Djokovic was handed a free pass into the last 32.
Rafa Nadal glided into the third round as smoothly as the new roof over Arthur Ashe stadium slid shut for the first time during a match. Two-time champion Nadal, seeded fourth, defeated Italy’s Andreas Seppi 6-0, 7-5, 6-1 to book a meeting with Russian Andrey Kuznetsov for a place in the round of 16.
The new $150 million roof was called into action for the first time when light rain began falling in the second set. The giant structure took only a few moments to close before Nadal and Seppi resumed their match beneath it. STRUGGLES Third seeded Spaniard Muguruza, who has struggled in the aftermath of her Roland Garros breakthrough in June, slumped to a 7-5, 6-4 loss to Latvia’s Anastasija Sevastova, the world No 48.
A horribly out of sorts Muguruza rallied from 1-5 down in the second set, saving three match points, but Sevastova, who quit the sport in 2013 to study leisure management, held her nerve for the victory.
Having not won a match at the US Open in five years before this week, 26-year-old Sevastova now goes on to face Kateryna Bondarenko, a 5-7, 7-6 (7/5), 7-5 winner over China’s Zheng Saisai.
Meanwhile, 120th-ranked Ryan Harrison of the United States stunned fifth seeded Raonic 6-7 (4/7), 7-5, 7-5, 6-1 in another second round upset.
“It was extremely physical out there. I was playing on adrenaline,” said 24-year-old qualifier Harrison who was as high as 43 in the world in 2012.
He goes on to face experienced Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis for a place in the last 16. FREE PASS World No 1 Djokovic made the last 32 of a Major for the 33rd successive time without hitting a ball when Jiri Vesely of the Czech Republic withdrew from their second round encounter suffering an inflammation of the left forearm.
Djokovic will face 34-year-old Russian Mikhail Youzhny, twice a semifinalist, on Friday for a place in the last 16.
Former No 1 Caroline Wozniacki, the US Open runner-up in 2009 and 2014 but who has slipped to 74 in the world after a season decimated by a right ankle injury, defeated 2004 champion Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-4, 6-4.
The 26-year-old Dane recovered from 0-4 down in the first set to record a seventh win in eight meetings and third in New York over the ninth-seeded Russian.
Angelique Kerber, the second seeded Australian Open champion, made the last 32 by seeing off 34-year-old Mirjana LucicBaroni of Croatia 6-2, 7-6 (9/7).