Category: Tennis

• Serb oldest man to reach all major quarters in one season

• Djokovic will face Taylor Fritz in next round

Novak Djokovic was cruising with a big early lead in his US Open fourth-round match on Sunday night when his neck started bothering him.

Djokovic was ahead of qualifier Jan-Lennard Struff 4-0 in the first set, when he hit a nicely angled volley winner to go up 30-love. The 24-time grand slam champion immediately grabbed at the back of his neck and started turning his head. Djokovic repeatedly stretched his neck and flexed his right shoulder between points, as he dropped two games in a row. But he soon regained the upper hand against Struff, who was trying to get to a major quarter-final for the first time.

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• American misses first grand slam singles quarter-final

• Townsend had become huge crowd favorite in Queens

A tearful Taylor Townsend suffered a heartbreaking fourth-round loss at the US Open after Barbora Krejcikova astonishingly saved eight match points.

Townsend’s dramatic week has been one of the stories of the tournament so far, with the American becoming headline news after her second-round opponent Jelena Ostapenko confronted her courtside and accused her of having “no education” and “no class”.

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• Auger-Aliassime beats Zverev in four-set thriller

• Zverev suffers earliest New York exit since 2018

Felix Auger-Aliassime stormed into the last 16 of the US Open on Saturday night with a rousing comeback win over world No 3 Alexander Zverev, knocking out one of the title favorites 4-6, 7-6 (7), 6-4, 6-4 on Louis Armstrong Stadium.

The Canadian 25th seed had not reached the second week in New York since his semi-final run in 2021 but summoned some of the best tennis of his career to secure a first grand slam victory over a top-five opponent. The match stretched to three hours and 48 minutes and finished shortly before midnight, delaying the night session that followed.

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• Australian leads 6-7 (9) 6-3 6-4 2-0 when Daniel Altmaier retires

• Women’s 15th seed knocked out in 6-0 4-6 6-3 loss to Naomi Osaka

Alex de Minaur has surged into the US Open second week for a fifth time with a business-like win over wounded German Daniel Altmaier.

Australia’s last player standing once more, De Minaur recovered from a set down to progress after Altmaier retired injured when the Demon was leading 6-7 (9-7) 6-3 6-4 2-0 on Saturday (Sunday AEST).

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• Serbian beats Briton in four sets in his best performance of tournament

• But he says his struggles with his body and movement are ‘frustrating’

At a time when Novak Djokovic could really benefit from some straightforward wins to ease through the early rounds of his final grand slam tournament of the year, nothing has come easily in New York. But under the bright lights on Friday night, Djokovic held off an impressive Cameron Norrie to reach the fourth round of the US Open with a 6-4, 6-7 (4), 6-2, 6-3 win in his best performance of the tournament so far.

The victory makes Djokovic, 38, the oldest man to reach the last 16 of the US Open in 34 years – since Jimmy Connors in 1991. He also ties Roger Federer for the most grand slam fourth round appearances in history with 69 appearances. “These kind of matches and performances always give me hope that I can go far, challenge the best players in the world,” Djokovic said.

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• Latvian criticised for saying Taylor Townsend had ‘no education’

• Ostapenko strongly denies US Open comments were racist

Naomi Osaka has condemned Jelena Ostapenko’s comments during her courtside confrontation with Taylor Townsend at the US Open.

The incident on Wednesday has been one of the most talked-about of the tournament, with Ostapenko accusing the American Townsend of having no education and no class after their second-round match. The comments, which Ostapenko justified as a reaction to Townsend not apologising for a shot that hit the top of the net, have prompted accusations of racism.

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• Former world No 3 beaten by Daniel Altmaier at US Open

• German deployed underarm serve in fourth set

A frustrated Stefanos Tsitsipas took exception to his opponent’s tactics after blowing a match point and exiting the US Open in the second round courtesy of a five-set loss to Daniel Altmaier on Thursday.

The 7-6 (5), 1-6, 4-6, 6-3, 7-5 defeat means the former world No 3 Tsitsipas will end the season without playing in the third round of a grand slam for the first time since 2017.

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• De Minaur and Kasatkina keep hopes alive in New York

• Four other Australians crash out in second round

Alex de Minaur and Daria Kasatkina have expressed relief for different reasons after saving Australia’s blushes with contrasting second-round US Open victories in New York.

As Alexei Popyrin, Adam Walton, Tristan Schoolkate and Maya Joint all crashed out, De Minaur hit the go button in a straight-sets victory over Japanese qualifier Shintaro Mochizuki.

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• Williams wins first women’s doubles in decade

• Partners with Fernandez to stun No 6 seeds

• Raucous crowd backs 45-year-old on Armstrong

Venus Williams insists she is not a good doubles player. The 14 major championships she and Serena won together tell a different story.

Without her younger sister by her side, Williams showed Thursday she’s still got it. Williams won a women’s doubles match at the US Open for the first time in more than a decade, teaming with Leylah Fernandez to defeat the sixth-seeded pair of Lyudmyla Kichenok and Ellen Perez 7-6 (4), 6-3.

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Iga Swiatek and Jannik Sinner move into round three, likewise Naomi Osaka, Lorenzo Musetti and Andrey Rublev

Goffin has broken back against Musetti and they’re now 4-4 in set one. On Grandstand, Rublev is giving Boyer all he can handle, forcing break points that he can’t quite convert. Oh, and Swiatek survives break point to lead Lamens 3-0, I don’t imagine this match will detain us all that long.

Also a set up are Sakkari, 6-3 against Bondar; Alexandrova, 6-2 1-1 against Wang; and Kalinskaya, 6-1 1-1 against Putitnseva. Meanwhile, Swiatek breaks Lamens for 2-0, already looking monstrous; it’ll take something significant to beat her here, but both Gauff, her potential semi-final opponent, and Sabalenka, the defending champ and no 1 seed, are capable of that.

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• Russian enraged by umpire decision in first-round exit

• Former world No 1 destroyed racket after match

Daniil Medvedev was fined $42,500 by the US Open on Wednesday – more than a third of his $110,000 prize money from this year’s singles at the tournament – for his meltdown after a photographer wandered on to the court at match point.

Tournament referee Jake Garner docked Medvedev $30,000 for unsportsmanlike conduct and another $12,500 for racket abuse. When Sunday’s first-round match ended in defeat for Medvedev he repeatedly smacked a racket against his chair, destroying the equipment.

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Cameron Norrie beat Francisco Comesana to set up a meeting with Novak Djokovic after Jack Draper withdrew and Emma Raducanu won in style

Well in Janie Tjen. She holds to avoid the bagel so, at 6-2 5-1,Raducanu will now serve for round three.

Raducanu is serving like an absolute demon, another quick hold giving her 6-2 5-0. She’s nearly there.

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• Australia’s No 1 reaches second round with 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 win

• Teenager Joint beats Victoria Jimenez Kasintseva 6-4 7-6 (8-6)

Alex de Minaur cast aside friendship to lead three more Australians into the US Open second round in New York. As Alexei Popyrin set up a showcourt showdown with defending champion and world No 1 Jannik Sinner, De Minaur was all class in defeating fellow Sydneysider Chris O’Connell in straight sets.

The two-time Open quarter-finalist did not face a solitary break point in ousting O’Connell 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 on the Grandstand on Tuesday (Wednesday AEST). De Minaur’s reward is a second-round meeting with Japan’s world No 112 Shintaro Mochizuki.

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• Brother gives 2022 champ haircut in barber’s absence

• Frances Tiafoe among critics of new style

Carlos Alcaraz thought the biggest challenge he would face in the early stages of this year’s US Open was the 145mph serves of his 6ft 11in first round opponent, Reilly Opelka. Instead it turned out to be his own brother.

Alcaraz wanted a haircut before the tournament and, in the absence of his usual barber, Victor Martínez, asked one of his brothers to give him a trim. It did not go well.

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