The main sensations of the 5th day:
Victoria Azarenka
Victoria Azarenka has won over Yulia Starodubtseva and Clara Burel at the 2024 US Open. The 20th seed Belarusian faced Wang Yafan in the third round. Wang reached the third round of the US Open for the first time by beating Maria Sakkari and Diane Perry, then scored a sensational victory over Azarenka with a score of 6:4, 3:6, 6:2. She will now face Paula Badosa in the fourth round.
Lorenzo Musetti
Paris Olympic bronze medalist Lorenzo Musetti found himself in deep trouble in his early rounds at the 2024 US Open, seeded 18th. The Italian needed four sets to beat Reilly Opelka in the first round, then struggled with Miomir Kecmanovic in the second. Eventually, Musetti’s luck ran out and he was eliminated from the tournament in his third-round match against Brandon Nakashima.
Nakashima has won matches against Tommy Paul, Taylor Fritz and Holger Rune in recent weeks. The 23-year-old American once again showed excellent tennis and beat Musetti in four sets 6-2, 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (4). Nakashima will now face fourth seed Alexander Zverev.
Madison Keys
Madison Keys was defending 780 at the 2024 US Open after reaching the semifinals last year. She started the New York tournament strong, beating Katerina Sinyakova and Maya Joynt in straight sets to reach the third round against Elise Mertens. Both women struggled to hold serve in the first set, which went to a tiebreaker.
Keys won the first set in a tiebreaker, but then lost the next two – 7-6 (5), 5-7, 4-6. Mertens will now face second seed Aryna Sabalenka.
Ben Shelton
Ben Shelton also had to defend 780 points at the 2024 US Open and performed well to start the tournament, beating Dominic Thiem and Roberto Bautista Agut. In the third round, Shelton faced Francis Tiafoe. They met in the quarterfinals of the US Open last year, from which Shelton emerged victorious. This time, Tiafoe was stronger 4-6, 7-5, 6-7 (5), 6-4, 6-3.
Novak Djokovic
Novak Djokovic’s title defense at the 2024 US Open ended in a sensational third-round loss. The Serb was beaten by rising Australian star Alexei Popyrin.
Djokovic arrived in New York fresh from winning Olympic gold in Paris and began his quest for a fifth US Open title with victories over Radu Albot and Laszlo Diere.
In the third round, the second-seeded Serbian faced an in-form Alexei Popyrin, fresh from his first Masters 1000 title in Canada.
Popyrin showed his talent and class by winning the first two sets. Despite struggling on serve, Djokovic stopped his opponent’s attacks and won the third set. However, this did not bother Popyrin, who rallied in the fourth set and finished the match with a score of 6-4, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4. This is the biggest win of Alexei Popyrin’s career and he will face Tiafoe in the fourth round of the US Open on September 1. As for Djokovic, he remains without a win on the ATP Tour in 2024.
Vyacheslav Gorbachev, Athletistic
Source: Sport
I’m Rose Brown , a journalist and writer with over 10 years of experience in the news industry. I specialize in covering tennis-related news for Athletistic, a leading sports media website. My writing is highly regarded for its quick turnaround and accuracy, as well as my ability to tell compelling stories about the sport.
