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U.S. Open tennis: Medvedev, Serena advance; Sakkari a Day 3 upset

Daniil Medvedev of Russia returns a ball to Arthur Rinderknech of France in the second round of the 2022 U.S. Open on Wednesday at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing, N.Y. Photo by John Angelillo/UPI
1 of 5 | Daniil Medvedev of Russia returns a ball to Arthur Rinderknech of France in the second round of the 2022 U.S. Open on Wednesday at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing, N.Y. Photo by John Angelillo/UPI | License Photo

Sept. 1 (UPI) -- Men's No. 1 Daniil Medvedev and 23-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams were among the players to advance to the third round on Day 3 of the 2022 U.S. Open. No. 3 Maria Sakkari was upset in her second-round match.

Medvedev beat France's Arthur Rinderknech in straight sets Wednesday at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing, N.Y.

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"A win in three sets was the most important thing," Medvedev told reporters. "I tried to get out of there as early as possible, when it was pretty late. I'm looking forward to the next round."

The top-seeded Russian fired eight aces, 34 winners and converted 5 of 17 break points in the 6-2, 7-5, 6-3 win. Medvedev will face China's Yibing Wu in the third round. The winner of that match will meet No. 23 Nick Kyrgios of Australia or American J.J. Wolf in the fourth round.

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No. 5 Casper Ruud of Norway, No. 12 Pablo Carreno of Spain, No. 13 Matteo Berrettini of Italy and No. 18 Alex de Minaur of Australia were among the other top men to advance in the singles circuit. Andy Murray of England also beat American Emilio Nava in four sets to reach the third round, where he will meet Berrettini.

England's Jack Draper advanced with a straight-sets upset of No. 6 Felix Auger Aliassime on Wednesday in Flushing. Draper will meet No. 27 Karen Khachanov of Russia in the third round.

No. 29 Tommy Paul and J.J. Wolf were the only American men to advance with Wednesday victories.

American Serena Williams magnetized most of the attention on Day 3. She upset No. 2 Anett Kontaveit of Estonia in three sets Wednesday night in front of a huge crowd at Arthur Ashe Stadium. Williams will continue her final Grand Slam run Friday, with a third-round match against Australian Ajla Tomljanovic.

No. 5 Ons Jabeur of Tunisia, No. 12 Cori "Coco" Gauff and No. 20 Madison Keys of the United States and No. 17 Caroline Garcia of France were among the top women's players to win Wednesday matches.

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Gauff will meet Keys in the third round. The winner of that match will face Rebecca Marino of Canada or Shuai Zhang of China for a spot in the quarterfinals.

"I'm super happy with my performance," Gauff said. "I know the next match will be tough, but I'm looking forward to it."

Defending champion Bianca Andreescu of Canada beat No. 15 Beatriz Haddad Maia in straight sets in her second-round match. Russian Ludmilla Samsonova also scored a second-round upset of No. 14 Leylah Fernandez of Canada.

Sakkari sustained the most significant upset Wednesday, with a three-set loss to China's Wang Xiyu.

Xiyu converted 6 of 11 break points in that 3-6, 7-5, 7-5 win. She will meet No. 29 Alison Riske-Amritraj of the United States in the third round.

No. 31 Shelby Rogers was the only other American woman to advance Wednesday in Flushing. She beat Slovakian Viktoria Kuzmova in straight sets.

No. 2 Rafael Nadal of Spain, No. 3 Carlos Alcaraz of Spain, No. 7 Cameron Norrie of England, NO. 8 Hubert Hurkacz of Poland, No. 9 Andrey Rublev of Russia and No. 11 Jannik Sinner of Italy will be among the top men in action Thursday in Flushing.

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No. 1 Iga Swiatek of Poland, No. 4 Paula Badosa of Spain, No. 6 Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus, No. 8 Jessica Pegula of the United States, No. 9 Garbine Muguruza of Spain and No. 13 Belinda Bencic of Switzerland also will be in action Thursday at the U.S. Open.

Highlights from the 2022 U.S. Open

Carlos Alcaraz of Spain (L) and Casper Ruud of Norway stand with their trophies after the Men's Finals of the 2022 U.S. Open Tennis Championships at the USTA Billy Jean King National Tennis Center in Forest Hills, N.Y. on September 11, 2022. Alcaraz won the match 6-4, 2-6, 7-6, 6-3. Photo by John Angelillo/UPI | License Photo

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