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Elena Rybakina. (Tingshu Wang) <\/p>\nAlexander Zverev kept his bid for a second Grand Slam title alive with a straightforward win over Alejandro Tabilo, while Coco Gauff stayed strong to reach the fourth round of the US Open as several of her fellow Americans crashed out on Saturday. <\/p>\n
Naomi Osaka overcame a mental and physical battle to outlast Belgium\u2019s Elise Mertens in a three-setter at Louis Armstrong Stadium.<\/p>\n
Two of the brightest young prospects in the women\u2019s draw, and close friends off it, put on a show as American Iva Jovic edged Filipina Alexandra Eala in a thrilling clash at Arthur Ashe Stadium.<\/p>\n
After back-to-back five-setters, top seed Zverev enjoyed a quieter night as he overcame a small mid-match dip to see off Chile\u2019s Tabilo 6-2 7-6(2) 6-2.<\/p>\n
\u201c,\u201d Zverev said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wasn\u2019t happy with the second set. I think especially at the end of the second set I lost focus a bit. I was not moving as well. I was not playing as well. But I think the first and third sets are a big improvement to the other days. I\u2019ll try to focus on that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Japanese 13th seed Osaka, a two-time US Open champion, worked through a challenge after letting slip a one-set and break advantage before managing an Achilles niggle to beat Mertens 6-3 3-6 7-5.<\/p>\n
The match was as much a test of Osaka\u2019s composure as her tennis, with the 28-year-old showing visible frustration before regaining control in the decider.<\/p>\n
\u201cHonestly, I didn\u2019t feel like I played amazingly, and it was really getting me down, like I was very negative about myself, so I\u2019m really sorry about my behaviour,\u201d an emotional Osaka said.<\/p>\n
Jovic, 18, and Eala, 21, traded momentum throughout a contest that lasted more than three hours before the American prevailed 7-5 3-6 7-5. Jovic, the 14th seed, will next face compatriot and fan favourite Gauff.<\/p>\n
Fourth seed Gauff had earlier provided the day\u2019s clearest positive for the home fans, the 22-year-old beating Spain\u2019s Cristina Bucsa 6-3 6-4, as the 2023 champion looks to win a third Grand Slam crown.<\/p>\n
Elena Rybakina. (Tingshu Wang) <\/p>\n
Second seed Elena Rybakina continued her quest for a third Major title and the top spot in the WTA rankings, advancing after a 7-6(6) 6-3 win over Yuliia Starodubtseva.<\/p>\n
Australian Open champion Rybakina avenged the second-round defeat she suffered to the Ukrainian at the French Open. The Kazakh will face Osaka for a place in the quarterfinals.<\/p>\n
Iga Swiatek, the 2022 champion, beat Marie Bouzkova 7-6(3) 7-6(3), while French Open champion Mirra Andreeva advanced by downing Nikola Bartunkova 6-2 7-6(5).<\/p>\n
The day had begun with a string of painful exits for the home players.<\/p>\n
Past US Open finalists Taylor Fritz, Madison Keys and Amanda Anisimova all crashed out in the third round, dealing a stinging blow to the home fans at Flushing Meadows.<\/p>\n
Ninth seed Fritz had yet to drop a set in New York and looked on his way to another routine victory before Argentinian Francisco Cerundolo flipped the script and won 3-6 4-6 6-3 6-4 6-4.<\/p>\n
It was the earliest exit in four years for the 2024 runner-up, and Cerundolo will next face Belgium\u2019s Alexander Blockx, who shocked fifth seed Flavio Cobolli 6-7(4) 6-3 6-0 6-3.<\/p>\n
The American women fared no better, as China\u2019s Zheng Qinwen came back from a 5-0 deficit in the decider to beat 2017 runner-up Keys 1-6 7-6(3) 7-5 on the Grandstand, collapsing on the court in utter joy as she fights back from a career slump.<\/p>\n
The Olympic champion reached the quarterfinals for the second straight time only two years ago but was forced to go through qualifying this time after a chronic right elbow injury derailed her career progress.<\/p>\n
Last year\u2019s runner-up and 10th seed Anisimova was unable to reverse her fortunes in a frustrating year at the Majors, with a 6-2 7-5 defeat by Anastasia Potapova.<\/p>\n
Young American wildcard Michael Zheng was another casualty, unable to complete a comeback against Frenchman Arthur Gea in a 7-6(7) 3-6 4-6 6-3 6-2 defeat. Gea became just the second lucky loser to reach the fourth round, after fellow countryman Corentin Moutet in 2022.<\/p>\n
The day ended on a positive note for the home crowd, who spurred Learner Tien to a gritty 6-3 1-6 6-7(2) 6-3 6-4 win over Czech Jakub Mensik.<\/p>\n
Reuters<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Alexander Zverev kept his bid for a second Grand Slam title alive with a straightforward win over Alejandro…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":67043,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[3864,243,185,28,463],"class_list":["post-67042","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-alexander-zverev","tag-alejandro-tabilo","tag-alexander-zverev","tag-coco-gauff","tag-tennis","tag-us-open"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67042","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=67042"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67042\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/67043"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=67042"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=67042"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=67042"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}