A summary of Wednesday's action at the US Open.
Playing more like a world number one than a player ranked outside the top 600, Serena Williams turned back the clock on Wednesday to stun world No. 2 Anett Kontaveit 7-6(4), 2-6, 6-2 and move into the third round of the US Open, putting her retirement plans on pause.
Defeat has always been hard to swallow for the fiercely competitive Williams and the 40-year-old American's relentless will to win was on full display during an absorbing two hour 27 minute contest of unexpected high-quality, breathless intensity and drama.
Williams had signalled her intention to retire earlier this month, saying she was "evolving away from tennis" but never confirming the US Open as her final event.
But any farewell has now been put on hold with Williams back on centre court on Thursday for a doubles match with older sister Venus, followed by a third round clash with Australian Ajla Tomljanovic, who was a 1-6, 6-2, 7-5 winner over Russia's Evgeniya Rodina.
"I'm a pretty good player," said Williams with a sly grin when asked how she downed the world number two. "This is what I do best - I love a challenge, I love rising to a challenge."
"The last couple matches here in New York it's really come together.
"I'm super competitive - honestly I'm just looking at it as a bonus.
"I have absolutely nothing to prove."
With 23 Grand Slam titles and widely regarded as the greatest women's player of all time, Williams indeed has done it all on the tennis court.
But after two wins and now safely through to the third round the once-unthinkable dream of a Hollywood ending to Williams' career just might be in the cards, walking off into retirement with an elusive 24th major that would put her level with Margaret Court at the top of the all-time list.
Having been world number one for 319 weeks, Williams arrived in New York ranked below 600, unseeded and with just a single match win from three events coming into the season's final Grand Slam.
It had been over a year - at the 2021 French Open - since Williams last posted back-to-back wins. She faced a daunting challenge in 26-year-old Kontaveit, a player whose game was built for the hardcourt and who won five of her six career titles on the surface.
With none of the pre-match festivities that took place ahead of her first round match to distract her, Williams stepped onto the court with her game face on and delivered a performance that had a packed Arthur Ash Stadium on its feet.
Williams claimed the first break to go 5-4 up but faltered serving for the set and Kontaveit broke back to ensure a tie-break.
The tie-break was of no less quality, Williams clinching it 7-4 in classic fashion with a thundering ace.
But the Estonian would not be intimidated by either Williams or a frothing crowd, grabbing two early breaks in the second set to jump 3-0 in front and easily take the set.
The third got off to a scrappy start with three breaks in the opening four games but two of those would go to Williams. She got in front 4-1 and never let go.
Medvedev storms into third round
World number one Daniil Medvedev maintained his strong start to his US Open title defence on Wednesday, dispatching France's Arthur Rinderknech 6-2, 7-5, 6-3 in the Arthur Ashe Stadium to reach the third round.
After an inconsistent run-up to Flushing Meadows, Medvedev gained momentum after his straight-sets win over Stefan Kozlov in the first round on Monday and picked up where he left off against Rinderknech.
Russian Medvedev frustrated Rinderknech with his flawless shot placement and pounced on the Frenchman's serve to keep him pinned back on the baseline, while also saving all three break points he faced.
Medvedev capitalised on several unforced errors from Rinderknech to easily clinch the opening set and although he faced greater resistance from the world number 58 in the second, he was able to break through and prevent a tiebreak.
The 26-year-old dictated play with penetrating groundstrokes and got the crucial break in the third set by claiming the fifth game, before racing to victory in two hours and 10 minutes.
Awaiting Medvedev in the third round will be Wu Yibing, who became the first Chinese man to reach the third round at Flushing Meadows after beating fellow qualifier Nuno Borges of Portugal 6-7(3), 7-6(4), 4-6, 6-4, 6-4.
Kyrgios knocks out Bonzi in slugfest
Australia's Nick Kyrgios powered past Benjamin Bonzi to reach the third round of the US Open with a hard fought 7-6(3), 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 win over the Frenchman on Wednesday.
The big-serving 23rd seed struck 30 aces and broke Bonzi for a fourth time on match point to end the punishing match under the lights at Louis Amrstrong Stadium.
"His level today was incredible, I was not expecting an absolute war," Kyrgios said in an on-court interview.
"That could have gone either way. He was up a break early in the fourth but I played some really risky tennis late in the fourth set to win. I'm just happy to get through."
In their first career meeting, the pair exchanged breaks in the first set before Kyrgios captured it in a tie-break and broke early in the second to cruise to a 2-0 lead.
Bonzi responded by taking the third set and went up a break in the fourth before Kyrgios stepped up his game, breaking his serve for a fourth time to set up a third round meeting with American JJ Wolf, who battled past Alejandro Tabilo 4-6, 7-5, 6-4, 6-3 earlier in the day.
Murray overcomes Nava to make third round
Former world number one Andy Murray survived an early scare to beat American wildcard Emilio Nava 5-7, 6-3, 6-1, 6-0 to move into the third round of a Grand Slam for only the second time in five years.
Murray's victory also marked the first time since 2016 that he had reached the third round at Flushing Meadows, where he won his maiden Grand Slam title a decade ago.
The Scot has been attempting to revive his career since hip surgeries threatened to bring it to a premature end and the 35-year-old has shown glimpses of getting back to his best in the first two rounds, dropping only one set so far.
"Physically this is the best I've felt in years... I'm getting closer to where I want to be. Hopefully I can have a deep run here," Murray said in an on-court interview.
Nava is ranked 203 in the world but the 20-year-old, who knocked out John Millman in the first round, showed he belonged further up the ladder with his confident shot-making, winning the big points to take a gruelling first set in 84 minutes.
Murray struggled with his first serve but is always happy to graft in Grand Slams, and broke the inexperienced Nava twice in the second set to level the match after the American made several unforced errors.
That fuelled Murray as he suddenly found his range on serve, tearing through the third set as Nava failed to sustain his levels from the opener and began to fade, giving the resolute Scot the advantage.
With Nava on the ropes, Murray was ruthless with two early breaks to go 4-0 up. Nava nearly got on the board in the fifth game but Murray stood firm to break again before serving out the set.
Murray will next meet 13th seed Matteo Berrettini, who beat him in the final of the Stuttgart Open in June.
The Italian also dropped the opening set before fighting back to beat Hugo Grenier 2-6, 6-1, 7-6(4), 7-6(7).
No. 3 seed Sakkari sent packing by Wang Xiyu
Greek third seed Maria Sakkari became the biggest casualty in the women's draw at the US Open when she fell to a 3-6, 7-5, 7-5 defeat to unseeded Chinese Wang Xiyu in an adsorbing second-round contest.
Sakkari, a semi-finalist in New York last year, took charge in the early stages and marched into a one-set lead before being let down by a series of unforced errors as Wang claimed her first career victory over a top-10 player.
Despite Sakkari's superior experience, Wang's heavy hitting from the baseline came to the fore in the second set as she took a 5-3 lead before clinching it after a double-fault from Sakkari.
Both players matched each other in the decider but it was Wang who raised her game in the key moments, breaking Sakkari at 6-5 to take the win and reach the third round of a Grand Slam for the first time.
Sakkari's defeat capped a difficult couple of days for Greek tennis following the shock first-round exit of men's fourth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas at the hands of Colombian qualifier Daniel Elahi Galan.
Gauff sets up meeting with Keys
Coco Gauff beat Romania's Elena-Gabriela Ruse 6-2, 7-6(4) to reach the third round and claim her second consecutive win on the world's largest stage for tennis, the 23,771-capacity crown jewel of Flushing Meadows.
Gauff was viewed as a possible heir apparent to the Williams sisters when as a 15-year-old she stunned Venus in the first round of Wimbledon in 2019. Her best result at a Grand Slam so far was reaching the French Open final in June.
"It's a really big court and I've been watching Venus here, Serena here and now I'm playing here," Gauff said in an on-court interview.
"It's an honour to open up the court for her tonight."
Next up for the 12th seeded Gauff is a meeting with hard-hitting fellow-American Madison Keys, who won a tense third set tie-breaker to see off Italy's Camila Giorgi 6-4, 5-7, 7-6(6).
The loss is sure to sting for Giorgi, who served for the match while leading 5-2 in the third set but could not close it out and committed a flurry of errors in the tiebreak.
Giorgi converted just four of her 16 break point opportunities while 20th seed Keys struck eight aces and 30 winners at Louis Armstrong Stadium.
"I was just telling myself to keep my legs moving, swing at the ball and not overthink things," Keys said.
"Just rely on my athleticism and luckily I got this win."
Draper stuns Auger-Aliassime
Britain's Jack Draper, ranked 53rd in the world, earned an impressive upset victory over Canadian sixth seed and last year's semi-finalist Felix Auger-Aliassime, winning 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 to reach the third round of a Grand Slam for the first time.
The 20-year-old Draper will take on Russian Karen Khachanov, who beat Thiago Monteiro of Brazil 6-3, 6-3, 5-7, 6-4.
