{"id":64906,"date":"2026-09-04T01:28:48","date_gmt":"2026-09-04T01:28:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/64906\/"},"modified":"2026-09-04T01:28:48","modified_gmt":"2026-09-04T01:28:48","slug":"osaka-keys-mount-thrilling-fightbacks-gauff-zverev-highlight-night-session-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/64906\/","title":{"rendered":"Osaka, Keys mount thrilling fightbacks, Gauff, Zverev highlight night session"},"content":{"rendered":"

Naomi Osaka, of Japan, returns the ball to Katerina Siniakova, of the Czech Republic, during the second round of the US Open tennis championships, in New York on Sept 3, 2026. (PHOTO\/AP)<\/p>\n

NEW YORK \u2013 Two-time champion Naomi Osaka overcame mid-match mistakes to progress while Madison Keys saved five match points to keep her campaign alive in the US Open<\/a> second \u200bround on Thursday, as fans eagerly awaited Coco Gauff and Alexander Zverev in the late program.<\/p>\n

A perennial \u200cfan favorite in New York, Osaka survived an up-and-down affair against Czech Katerina Siniakova to win 6-2 5-7 6-1, harnessing the mental resolve she has taken years to hone on the court where she claimed her maiden major eight years \u200bago.<\/p>\n

“I just told myself that it’s an honour to play on this court,” Osaka told the \u200bcrowd at Arthur Ashe Stadium. “I just want to keep playing in front of you \u2060guys if possible.”<\/p>\n

The 28-year-old Japanese player’s match was not the only nail-biter across the sprawling Flushing plaza, \u200bas American Keys mounted an epic comeback against Hungarian Anna Bondar to win 5-7 6-4 7-6(5) to delight \u200bthe home fans on the outer courts.<\/p>\n

Madison Keys, of the United States, returns the ball to Anna Bondar, of Hungary, during the second round of the US Open tennis championships, in New York on Sept 3, 2026. (PHOTO\/AP)<\/p>\n

The 2017 finalist sent over a remarkable 34 forehand winners to get the job done and gave all credit to her adoring fans after forcing Bondar into an error at the net on match point.<\/p>\n

“That \u200bwas something, huh?” Keys, 31, told the crowd after the win. “No stress though – we all knew I \u200bhad it, right?”<\/p>\n

Her compatriot Taylor Fritz had a far easier time, swatting aside Italian Mattia Bellucci 6-0 6-1 6-1, while \u200cAmanda Anisimova’s \u20606-3 3-6 6-1 defeat of Austrian Lilli Tagger added to the American joy.<\/p>\n

Canadian third seed Felix Auger-Aliassime, a semifinalist last year, took the first set but was then swept away in a 6-7(5) 6-3 6-2 6-2 defeat by Russian Karen Khachanov, becoming the highest-seeded man to exit the tournament so far.<\/p>\n

ALSO READ: Keys and Fritz cruise as rain disrupts outdoor US Open play<\/a><\/p>\n

The Philippines’ wildly popular Alex \u200bEala capped the early program \u200bat Louis Armstrong Stadium \u2060with a comprehensive 6-1 6-4 defeat of Ukraine’s Oleksandra Oliynykova.<\/p>\n

Iga Swiatek, of Poland, returns the ball to Nadia Podoroska, of Argentina, during the second round of the US Open tennis championships, in New York on Sept 3, 2026. (PHOTO\/AP)<\/p>\n

Fans await Gauff, Zverev<\/p>\n

Days of stubborn rain gave way to sunny skies in New York, where Iga Swiatek \u200benjoyed a relatively drama-free 6-3 6-2 win over Argentina’s Nadia Podoroska, in a \u200brare appearance \u2060on the outdoor courts for the 2022 champion.<\/p>\n

Fans will eagerly await another evening program packed with talent as fourth-seeded 2023 champion Gauff kicks off the night on Ashe against Paula Badosa followed by the men’s top seed Zverev, who \u2060plays France’s \u200bQuentin Halys.<\/p>\n

Frenchman Gael Monfils will hope to make magic again in \u200bhis farewell season when he faces 14th-seeded American Learner Tien in the first night match at Armstrong before second seed Elena Rybakina \u200bplays Spain’s Jessica Bouzas Maneiro.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Naomi Osaka, of Japan, returns the ball to Katerina Siniakova, of the Czech Republic, during the second round…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":64907,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[1956,243,283,185,366,751,270,28,463,282],"class_list":["post-64906","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-alexander-zverev","tag-alex-eala","tag-alexander-zverev","tag-atp","tag-coco-gauff","tag-grand-slam","tag-madison-keys","tag-naomi-osaka","tag-tennis","tag-us-open","tag-wta"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64906","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=64906"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64906\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/64907"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=64906"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=64906"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=64906"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}