NEW YORK-- Former champion Andy Murray and big-serving American John Isner bowed out of the U.S. Open on Thursday as second seed Aryna Sabalenka cruised into the third round.
Briton Murray, once spoken of in the same breath as tennis' "Big Three", has mounted a career comeback of sorts in 2023 but could not match the firepower of 19th seed Grigor Dimitrov under blistering sun on Arthur Ashe Stadium. "I'm aware what I'm doing, it's unbelievably challenging to play at the highest level as I am now. And yeah, some days it's harder than others," Murray said. "Ultimately these are the events that you want to play your best tennis in, and create more great moments and I didn't do that this year." Isner, 38, won the longest professional tennis match in history against Frenchman Nicolas Mahut at Wimbledon in 2010, which lasted 11 hours and 5 minutes and took place over three days. "This is why I worked as hard as I have my whole life to play in atmospheres like this and of course I may not win them all as we know, just like today," he said. He had announced his intention to retire after the tournament but did not get the hero's send-off he had hoped for as compatriot Michael Mmoh rallied from two sets down to beat him. Isner may have called time on his singles career but will get another chance in the spotlight when he plays doubles later on Thursday with compatriot Jack Sock. It was a routine day at the office for Sabalenka, who is looking to add another title to her name after collecting her maiden major prize at the Australian Open. The Belarusian fired off 28 winners to take down Britain's Jodie Burrage 6-3 6-2 and next faces France's Clara Burel.
Fans of Carlos Alcaraz will get another chance at a proper prime time performance from the number one seed later on Thursday, after the Spaniard's opener under the lights was cut short. The defending champion is one of the biggest attractions at Flushing Meadows but ticket holders trudged to the subway early on Tuesday when his opening round affair ended in the second set as his opponent retired with injury. The Wimbledon title holder kicks off the evening schedule on Arthur Ashe Stadium, where he will feed off the energy of loyal fans against second-round foe Lloyd Harris of South Africa. "We try to bring good vibes to the crowd, to the people. I try to be myself all the time. I think the people love that part of me.
(I'm) always happy, smiling," Alcaraz told reporters. Top American Jessica Pegula plays Romanian Patricia Maria Tig after on Ashe, as the third seed hopes to be the first woman from the United States to hoist the trophy on the New York hard courts since Sloane Stephens in 2017. Across the plaza, Russian Daniil Medvedev will feature in the late night match on Louis Armstrong Stadium against Australian Christopher O'Connell, who he has beaten in both of their previous meetings. The third seed has played second fiddle to Alcaraz and 23-time Grand Slam winner Novak Djokovic at Flushing Meadows but put the field on notice with a first-round demolition of Attila Balazs.
NEW YORK-- World number one Iga Swiatek moved into the third round of the U.S. Open on Wednesday but not without a fight, taming feisty Daria Saville, who had warned she had the game to make the defending champion uncomfortable. After a 6-0 6-1 rout of Sweden's Rebecca Peterson in her opening match, Swiatek did not look as at ease as she was made to work for a 6-3 6-4 win over the 322nd-ranked Australian spark plug. "I just felt like I kind of prevailed, because that match wasn't easy," said Swiatek, who next meets the player she describes as her best friend on the WTA Tour Slovenian qualifier Kaja Juvan. "I'm just happy to be in the third round. "For sure I want to improve some stuff, because I did some unforced errors. "It's just the beginning of the tournament, so for sure I work on some stuff."
Saville had also impressed in her opener, sweeping past 17-year-old American Clervie Ngounoue 6-0 6-2 but the four-time Grand Slam winner represented a major step up in quality she could not match. Believing she could get into Swiatek's head and possessed the type of game that could give her opponent trouble, Saville did just that in an uneven opening set. Saville, who has only once before beaten a world number one, seven years ago against Angelique Kerber, got the match off to the best possible start breaking Swiatek at the first opportunity. But Swiatek would immediately break back when the Australian gifted her the first of six double faults in the opening set. They traded breaks a second time before Swiatek would get her third of the set and hold serve for a 1-0 lead. The two players continued to swap breaks in the second before the Pole went in front to stay with another break at 3-2. But Saville would not wave the white flag, fist pumping after every big point, urging the Louis Armstrong crowd to get behind her.
"For sure I wanted to be intense and mostly I was in charge of what I'm going to kind of play, because I was the one that was attacking," said Swiatek. "But for sure I made some mistakes because you kind of need to risk a little bit more. "She was using most of my power to get these balls back, I'm just happy at the end I was the one that won." For Swiatek the win was another step towards defending her U.S. Open crown and keeping the number one world ranking. Despite having won four titles already this season, including the French Open for a third time, Swiatek's hold on the number one spot is under threat from Aryna Sabalenka, who is seeded second for the season's final Grand Slam. In order to remain in top spot Swiatek must go one round further than the Belarusian in Flushing Meadows.
MADRID--An inspired Atletico Madrid humiliated city rivals Rayo Vallecano with a 7-0 demolition job on Monday, with substitute Alvaro Morata scoring twice and midfielders Saul Niguez and Rodrigo de Paul giving two assists each. Atletico took an early two-goal lead with Antoine Griezmann and Memphis Depay scoring from close range, while Nahuel Molina extended their lead in the 36th minute in a counter-attack. Griezmann netted a close-range volley in the second minute from a De Paul cross. Depay almost extended Atletico’s lead two minutes later but his point-blank strike was brilliantly stopped by goalkeeper Stole Dimitrievski. He ended up scoring in the 16th minute after Saul delivered a low cross and the Dutch striker tapped in from just inside the six-yard-box. Dapay had to be substitute a few minutes little after he injured his leg. De Paul then found Molina and the defender netted a tidy finish past Dimitrievski. In the second half Morata, who had replaced Depay, netted twice, while Angel Correa fired a brilliant dipping strike over the goalkeeper. Marcos Llorente was also on target as a rampant Atletico ripped apart their rivals to secure a second win in three games this season. "We played a great game, with joy and a lot of intensity from the start," Griezmann told Movistar Plus. "The first goal gave us peace of mind and we earned three very important points. Let's rest and think about the next one now." Atletico are second in the LaLiga standings, level on seven points with Barcelona and Girona. They trail leaders Real Madrid by two points, while Rayo are eighth with six points.
NEW YORK-- Andy Murray and Cameron Norrie sailed into the second round of the U.S. Open with straight-sets wins on Tuesday as hopes for British success at the tournament got off to a promising start.
ZANDVOORT, Netherlands- Runaway Formula One leader Max Verstappen celebrated a record-equalling ninth successive victory after winning a rain-hit and red-flagged Dutch Grand Prix on Sunday for the third year in a row. The Red Bull driver's home triumph from pole position at a soggy Zandvoort equalled now-retired four-times world champion Sebastian Vettel's 2013 run of success with the same team. It was Red Bull's 14th consecutive triumph and 13th of the season, with the Italian Grand Prix at Monza following next weekend. Rain brought chaos at the end of lap one, with a further dry period followed by a downpour that swept in from the North Sea to halt proceedingsfor 40 minutes on the 65th of 72 laps with cars skidding off. Fernando Alonso put Aston Martin back on the podium with second place and a bonus point for fastest lap after the eventual rolling re-start behind the safety car led to a thrilling final chase at the seaside circuit. Pierre Gasly was third, his first podium finish since he joined Renault-owned Alpine, as Red Bull's Sergio Perez collected a five-second post-race penalty for speeding in the pit lane and dropped to fourth. Verstappen now leads Perez, his closest rival, by a mighty 138 points with nine races remaining. Red Bull lead Mercedes by 285 points with Aston Martin 40 points further back and 14 ahead of Ferrari. "Incredible. They didn't make it easy for us with the weather to make all the right calls," said Verstappen as his army of fans prepared to party into the night. "I already had goosebumps when they were playing the national anthem before the start," added the 25-year-old, who chatted happily with the Dutch king and queen before the podium ceremonies. "Even with all the bad weather, the rain, the fans are still going at it. So an incredible atmosphere." Verstappen's 11th victory of the season, and 46th of his career, provided another big push towards clinching a third title well before the end of the season. Ferrari's Carlos Sainz finished fifth with Lewis Hamilton sixth for Mercedes and fellow-Briton Lando Norris seventh for McLaren. Alex Albon collected more precious points for Williams in eighth, ahead of McLaren's Oscar Piastri and Esteban Ocon 10th for Alpine. New Zealander Liam Lawson finished 13th, and ahead of team mate Yuki Tsunoda, on his Formula One debut as a replacement for injured Daniel Ricciardo at AlphaTauri. Lawson overtook Charles Leclerc on lap 41, before the Ferrari driver retired with a damaged floor, but also collected a 10-second penalty for impeding in the pitlane. Clean Start Verstappen led cleanly away at the start with Alonso seizing third place. Only seven-times world champion Hamilton, starting a lowly 13th on the grid, lined up on medium tyres with everyone else on softs but all strategies were soon shredded as the skies opened. Perez, seventh on the grid and everything to gain, pitted immediately for intermediates along with six others as the leaders stayed out. The move paid off for him, but not for Ferrari who had Leclerc come in only to find no tyres ready and mechanics scurrying to bring them. Verstappen came in a lap later but resumed well down the field and set about closing the gap. He pitted again for dry tyres on lap 11 and took over at the front a lap later when Perez came in and discovered his team mate had successfully made the 'undercut' work. The weather played havoc with others' hopes, Mercedes' George Russell plunging from third on the grid to 18th on lap 13 and complaining over the radio. "I was forecast for a podium. How did we mess this up?" asked the Briton, who climbed back up the order but retired with a puncture after a clash with Norris at the re-start. The safety car was deployed from lap 16 to 21 when U.S. rookie Logan Sargeant crashed his Williams at turn eight. Verstappen appeared to be cruising to victory until the final deluge and the halt after Alfa Romeo's Guanyu Zhou crashed heavily, without injury.
