Sabalenka made quick work of Iatcenko in the second round, while Tiafoe, Tsitsipas, Pegula and Muchova were among the other notable winners
Jaime Faria’s serve has fallen apart on him – he’s up to eight double faults on the night – and Carlos Alcaraz is in control, leading 4-6, 6-0, 5-2. Our blog has to call it a night, but you can find all of the Guardian’s US Open coverage here.
We’ll be back tomorrow, where there’s another packed slate in New York. Coco Gauff, Alexandra Eala, Alexander Zverev, Gael Monfils – in what could be his final grand slam match ever – and Iga Świątek are among the big names in action.
That’s the kind of response Carlos Alcaraz needed in the second set. The Spaniard put on a clinic, winning 6-love and spinning Jaime Faria out of the confidence he had gained in the first set. Faria’s serve was his strength in the opening as he averaged 120mph and got two aces. In the second, he had four double faults and his average speed ticked down to 114mph. The early break was huge for Alcaraz; he’ll want another to get going in the third.
Frances Tiafoe is into the third round after a 6-3, 7-6 (7-2), 7-5 win over Rei Sakamoto. He’ll be pleased that this match required significantly fewer dramatics than his opening-round five-set, ending-well-after-midnight-local-time thriller against Martin Damm Jr. (As is Linda Noskova, next up on Armstrong. As are we, the US East Coast viewing public who want today’s play to end at a normal hour.) He’ll face the winner of Valentin Vacherot v Kamil Majchrzak, who split the first two sets and are tied 4-4 in the third.
