Key events
We have our first game of the day. At least the first that I’ve seen. Scmiedlova holds her serve against Wang and is 1-0 up.
In case you missed it, Carlos Alcaraz eased through to the next round.
Bryan Armen Graham was there to see and produced this report:
There are a few games getting underway as we speak:
Women’s singles:
Men’s doubles:
Women’s doubles”:
I’ve always wondered what it must be like to play one of your mates in a top level tennis match. Do they carry gripes off the court? Do they exchange personal quips in the heat of battle?
Swiatek and Juvan are (apparently) good chums. We’ll find out later what sort of energy they share in the middle.
We said goodbye to a legend yesterday. And, as this piece below begins, “John Isner’s career fittingly ended with a final-set tiebreaker”
The 38-year-old American ended a 17-year career when he lost to his fellow Yank Michael Mmoh 3-6, 4-6, 7-6 (3), 6-4, 7-6 (7).
Isner’s most famous contribution to the game is his involvement in the longest ever match in the sport’s history. Back in the first round of Wimbledon in 2018, he played out a marathon with Nicolas Mahut that lasted 11 hours and five minutes and ended with a 70-86 score in the fifth set. Isner, of course, won that one.
He bows out with a career-high ranking of No 8 but it’s that breathless slog that we’ll remember most.
There are some other tasty matches today
I blanked on the games underway past midnight on my side (I’m in London). Not the greatest start.
Crowd favourite Coco Gauff plays Elise Mertens from Belgium. That should be a belter.
Another American, Taylor Fritz takes on Jakub Mensik. Oh, and a certain Novak Djokovic plays his countryman, Laslo Djere.
All of those games will only start once I’ve packed up but if you’re joining from a far flung time-zone, or are coming back from a night out, these will be worth a go.
Preamble
Daniel Gallan
Hi folks and welcome to the third round of the US Open. There are a few tasty games on this afternoon and evening with my personal favourite being the tie between the American Frances Tiafoe and his French opponent, Adrian Mannarino. That’s the 10th and 22nd seeds locking horns at 18:30 BST/13:30 EST, but there is a bigger name in action.
The defending champion and top ranked player, Iga Swiatek of Poland plays the unseeded Kaja Juvan from Slovenia. That gets going around 17:15 BST/12:15 EST.
There are Brits involved too. Neal Skupski is one half of the top-ranked men’s doubles pair alongside his Dutch mate, Wesley Koolhof. Heather Watson will fly the flag in the women’s doubles as she partners Anna Danilina from Kazakhstan.
There’ll be loads going on and I’ll be keeping an eye and ear on it all. If you fancy dropping me a line I’d love to get your thoughts.
Hope everyone’s had a top Friday. Let’s get cracking…
