Key events
The weather is overcast in New York but we have confirmation that play should start in time. Five minutes until play. We start with Gabriela Rusev Paula Badosa on Louis Armstrong and Zheng Qinwen v Jule Niemeier on Grandstand.
After the first two rounds in the men’s singles tournament, Andrey Rublev leads in the most winners hit with 111. The sixth seed fought back from two two sets down to beat Arthur Rinderknech 4-6, 5-7, 6-1, 6-2, 6-2. The match, which took place in grueling heat conditions, was completed in four hours and six minutes. He continues his campaign for a first slam title today against Jiri Lehecka.
Our Brit watch has proved to be a mixed bag. Katie Boulter suffered one of her most disappointing defeats of the season, crashing out 7-5, 7-5 to Spain’s Jessica Bouzas Maneiro despite being the favourite. But Jack Draper eased into the third round with a 6-4, 6-2, 6-2 win over the Argentine Facundo Díaz Acosta and Dan Evans’s statement 6-4, 6-3, 6-3 win over Mariano Navone came two days after he battled through the longest match in the history of the US Open, recovering from 0-4 down in the fifth set to defeat Karen Khachanov in five sets after five hours, 35 minutes.
The Netherlands’ Botic van de Zandschulp managed a massive victory against Carlos Alcaraz in a 6-1, 7-5, 6-4 win last night on Arthur Ashe.
Having established himself as such a reliable performer in the biggest tournaments, this defeat marks the first time that Alcaraz has lost to a player ranked outside of the top 15 at a grand slam since the French Open in 2021, when he was 18 years old and ranked 97th in the world. It is also his earliest loss at a grand slam since that same year.
With the win, Van de Zandschulp has become the fourth unseeded player in 2000s to defeat in straight sets a Top three seeded at the men’s singles US Open tournament.
Catch up on how it all went down with Tumaini Carayol’s report.
Preamble
Hello all and welcome to our blog for day five of the 2024 US Open.
Day four was a tasty one. The world No 3 Carlos Alcaraz crashed out in straight sets while Britain’s Jack Draper and Dan Evans marched on.
And so much to look forward to today. The defending champion Coco Gauff and the Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen continue their campaigns as do Ben Shelton, Andrey Rublev, Paula Badosa and more.
Join me for all the build-up, news and action as we see who will reach the fourth round.
And, as always, if you have any thoughts, questions, queries, musings or predictions feel free to send me an email, which you can find at the top of this blog.
