US Open Glance: Gauff meets Osaka in third-round showdown
NEW YORK (AP) — A quick look at the U.S. Open:
LOOKAHEAD TO SATURDAY
One thing stands between Coco Gauff and the fourth round at another Grand Slam tournament, and it’s the defending U.S. Open champion. Naomi Osaka will try to end the 15-year-old American’s run in what shapes up as the most anticipated matchup of the tournament thus far. It will be Gauff’s first match of the tournament in Arthur Ashe Stadium, where Osaka won her first major title last year by beating Serena Williams. Then she won the Australian Open and moved to No. 1. But it was Gauff who had the better showing in the last major, reaching the round of 16 at Wimbledon before falling to eventual champion Simona Halep. Gauff has won a pair of three-setters thus far on Louis Armstrong Stadium. Rafael Nadal is scheduled to be on the court for the first time since Tuesday, having received a walkover in his second-round match, while No. 22 Marin Cilic, the 2014 U.S. Open champion, faces 14th-seeded John Isner in the only third-round matchup between seeded players in what’s been an upset-filled men’s tournament.
SATURDAY’S FORECAST
Sunny. High of 82 degrees (28 C).
FRIDAY’S WEATHER
Sunny. High of 84 degrees (29 C).
FRIDAY’S KEY RESULTS
Men’s third round: No. 3 Roger Federer beat Daniel Evans 6-2, 6-2, 6-1; Alex de Minaur beat No. 7 Kei Nishikori 6-2, 6-4, 2-6, 6-3; No. 15 David Goffin beat Pablo Carreno Busta 7-6 (5), 7-6 (9), 7-5; Dominik Koepfer beat No. 17 Nikoloz Basilashvili 6-3, 7-6 (5), 4-6, 6-1; No. 23 Stan Wawrinka beat Paolo Lorenzi 6-4, 7-6 (9), 7-6 (4).
Women’s third round: No. 2 Ash Barty beat No. 30 Maria Sakkari 7-5, 6-3; No. 3 Karolina Pliskova beat Ons Jabeur 6-1, 4-6, 6-4; No. 5 Elina Svitolina beat No. 32 Dayana Yastremska 6-2, 6-0; No. 8 Serena Williams beat Karolina Muchova 6-3, 6-2; No. 22 Petra Martic beat No. 12 Anastasija Sevastova 6-4, 6-3; No. 16 Johanna Konta beat No. 33 Zhang Shuai 6-2, 6-3.
STAT OF THE DAY
2 — Number of men’s qualifiers to reach the fourth round at the U.S. Open in the past decade, with Dominik Koepfer joining Denis Shapovalov, who did it in 2017.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“But that doesn’t mean, like, ‘Roger asks, Roger gets.’ Just remember that, because I have heard this (stuff) too often now.” — Roger Federer, who didn’t appreciate the suggestion that he might have influenced the scheduling of his match against Dan Evans.