By Amy Tennery
NEW YORK, Sept 2 (Reuters) – Daniil Medvedev flew into the third round after an avian disruption at the U.S. Open on Wednesday, as American Jessica Pegula crushed compatriot Sofia Kenin and Ben Shelton overcame Hubert Hurkacz on another rainswept day.
Medvedev, the 2021 winner, beat U.S. wildcard Sebastian Gorzny 6-1 6-3 7-5 to start the action at Louis Armstrong Stadium, where two birds landing on the net became the biggest source of frustration for the mercurial Russian.
The third-ranked Pegula needed just 56 minutes to dismantle 2020 Australian Open winner Kenin 6-3 6-1 in the first match at Arthur Ashe Stadium to set up a meeting with the 2021 runner-up, Canadian Leylah Fernandez.
“To be out of there in under an hour, it doesn’t always happen. So I think I’m just going to take that one and run,” said Pegula, the runner-up in 2024.
Eighth seed Ben Shelton had a more difficult time, beating Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz 6-3 5-7 7-6(3) 7-5, as he relied on the energy of the home crowd to power through.
The Montreal winner has emerged as one of the brightest hopes of ending a 23-year U.S. men’s major drought in a diminished field missing injured world number one Jannik Sinner.
It was not all good news for the Americans, however, as the 2017 champion Sloane Stephens exited against Ukraine’s 11th seed Marta Kostyuk in a 6-1 7-5 defeat.
SABALENKA, ALCARAZ HIGHLIGHT EVENING PROGRAMME
The first round of the tournament spilled over into a fourth day on the outer courts, after relentless rain on Tuesday disrupted the schedule and rain forced another brief delay on Wednesday.
Opening the action on the Grandstand court, Alex Michelsen upset fellow American and 16th seed Brandon Nakashima 6-3 6-4 6-4 in their second-round match.
Australian sixth seed Alex de Minaur, whose Tuesday night match on Grandstand was postponed, got his opener underway against Italian qualifier Andrea Guerrieri on Court 11.
Fans can look forward to a stellar evening programme on Ashe, where Aryna Sabalenka continues her quest for a third straight title against qualifier Polina Iatcenko, while Carlos Alcaraz plays Portugal’s Jaime Faria in his title defence.
American fan favourite Frances Tiafoe kicks off the night session on Armstrong against Japan’s Rei Sakamoto, followed by a clash between Czech Wimbledon champion Linda Noskova and Thailand’s Lanlana Tararudee.
(Reporting by Amy Tennery, editing by Ed Osmond and Toby Davis)
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