Key events
Thanks, Katy. Swiatek is on the cusp of victory, leading Shibahara 6-0, 5-1 and ready to serve it out. No double bagel, but a bagel and a breadstick is on the cards.
Right I’m off for some dinner, so here’s Niall McVeigh to guide you through the next stages of Draper’s match and beyond …
Draper backs up the break for 3-1. He then gets another sniff on Diaz Acosta’s serve when the Argentinian double faults for deuce, but he can’t capitalise. Draper’s first serve then misfires in the next game, and Diaz Acosta has his first break point. Draper is off the hook when Diaz Acosta goes long, and Draper doesn’t give his opponent another chance, holding from deuce. It’s 4-2 Draper.
Alex de Minaur’s started slowly against Finland’s Otto Virtanen, trailing 3-0. Thanasi Kokkinakis, after his huge win over Stefanos Tsitsipas in round one, is also behind, against Portugal’s Nuno Borges, having lost the first set 6-4.
The crowd makes the most noise it has all day on Arthur Ashe as Shibahara finally gets her name on the board against Swiatek. It’s a brief moment of celebration though because after Shibahara comes through that 13-minute service game, Swiatek swiftly holds for 6-0, 2-1.
Over on Court Five, Boulter’s defeat means that her fellow British No 1, Jack Draper, is next up, against Facundo Diaz Acosta, the 23-year-old Argentinian who’s playing in the second round of a slam for the first time in his career. Draper, seeded 25 in New York, underlines his status as the favourite in the match by breaking early, courtesy of a whipped forehand winner, for 2-1.
Shibahara, by the way, is a Californian who switched to representing Japan in 2019, and was forced to repay about $20,000 in funding to the USTA before she was allowed to change countries.
The 26-year-old just can’t handle the pace and spin on Swiatek’s vicious forehand and now trails 6-0, 1-0, as she attempts to prevent a total whitewash. She plays perhaps her best point of the match to get to advantage on her own serve, but Swiatek just won’t let her breathe and it’s quickly deuce again. A huge cheer erupts when Shibahara hits her first ace for another game point, but again is pulled back to deuce. There have been six deuces in this game as the game clock ticks past 10 minutes …
Iga Swiatek is doing what Iga Swiatek does, dishing out a 6-0 set against the Japanese qualifier Ena Shibahara in just 22 minutes. The top seed has hit only two unforced errors so far. Elsewhere Ashlyn Krueger, who’d never even won a grand slam match before this tournament, is into round three after knocking out the French Open semi-finalist Mirra Andreeva 6-1, 6-4, but another American, Caroline Dolehide, has lost, 7-5, 7-5 against the Italian veteran Sara Errani.
It’s going very well for the Aussie men so far today. After Jordan Thompson’s eye-catching win over Hubert Hurkacz, Chris O’Connell has backed up his opening-round win over the 26th seed Nicolas Jarry by defeating the Italian Mattia Bellucci 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3. It’s not all good news though: O’Connell will face Sinner in round three.
Boulter beaten 7-5, 7-5 by Bouzas Maneiro
And here’s another momentum shift. A 17-shot rally, the longest of the match, gives Bouzas Maneiro a break point … and Boulter then double faults. Ach. So Bouzas Maneiro will again step up to serve for a place in the third round … and the Spaniard makes it third time lucky for her and unlucky for the Brit, finally closing it out to 30 as Boulter balloons long.
There wasn’t much in it – Boulter won 74 points to Bouzas Maneiro’s 77, but Boulter just couldn’t find a consistent rhythm. The British No 1’s truncated build-up to the US Open after her participation at the Olympics may have played a part, but despite that, this is a match she’ll feel she should have won.
From one world No 1 to another on Arthur Ashe, where Jannik Sinner’s win means that Iga Swiatek has stepped on to court. The 2022 champion is the overwhelming favourite as she faces the Japanese qualifier Ena Shibahara.
So Boulter has reduced her arrears to 7-5, 5-4, but Bouzas Maneiro still has a second chance to serve for the match. The Spaniard is now the one who looks scrambled, and quickly drops 0-30 down. Which is soon 0-40, after an aggressive return from Boulter. And a misdirected backhand from Bouzas Maneiro and there’s another break for Boulter! From 5-2 down, Boulter is back to 5-5. Ah, you’ve got to love the sudden changes in momentum in tennis.
Boulter could be at the point of no return. Serving at 7-5, 4-2 down, she moves Bouzas Maneiro far out of the court … but the Spaniard gets the ball back and then slides Djokovic-style to her right to peel off a winner! 15-40, two break points that would leave Bouzas Maneiro serving for the match. Boulter scorches the sideline with a forehand winner to save the first break point but Bouzas Maneiro produces a forehand winner of her own on the second. Boulter trails 7-5, 5-2 … but then, with nothing to lose and Bouzas Maneiro tightening up with the finish line in sight, Boulter breaks to 15 and then holds to love! The comeback may be on!
A surprising scoreline on Grandstand, where Mirra Andreeva, the 17-year-old prodigy and 21st seed who reached the semi-finals at Roland Garros, has lost the first set 6-1 against the American Ashlyn Krueger.
It may be 10 degrees cooler than it was yesterday in New York but the heat is very much on Boulter, as she’s forced to save two break points when trailing 7-5, 3-1. She can’t afford to slide a double break down here. Boulter survives from there and holds, but is unable to put much pressure on Bouzas Maneiro’s serve, and the Spaniard moves to 4-2, just two more holds away from the match.
Paolini’s match against Pliskova lasted just six minutes.
Sinner speaks:
He’s a tough opponent, we played each other in Cincinnati, so I knew what to expect. I always love New York, it’s a very special place, every match is different, has its own story, so I’m very happy.
It has to be said Sinner had a lot of support from the crowd during the match, despite facing an American and despite the scrutiny he’s faced over the past week. He’ll be relieved to come through so comfortably after his tough opener on Tuesday.
Sinner defeats Michelsen 6-4, 6-0, 6-2
Boulter is reeling, as she’s broken to love, after a wayward backhand. “Her brain looks scrambled at the moment,” says Annabel Croft on comms. Someone who’s thinking much more clearly, despite his tumultuous build-up to the US Open, is Jannik Sinner, who’s put his foot on the accelerator after that stop-start first set and now leads the young American Alex Michelsen 6-4, 6-0, 5-2, with the world No 1 serving for the match. He has two match points at 40-15, and a serve-volley combo gets the job done.
Thompson beats seventh seed Hurkacz
More joyful scenes on Court 17, where Jordan Thompson has claimed the biggest win of his grand slam career, taking down the seventh seed Hubert Hurkacz 7-6 (2), 6-1, 7-5. Thompson faces Arnaldi next, so has a real chance of reaching round four … where he could face a certain Alex de Minaur.
Sad scenes on Louis Armstrong, where Karolina Pliskova, the 2016 finalist and former world No 1, is hobbling off, having retired in the first game against Jasmine Paolini, the French Open and Wimbledon runner-up. Paolini will play Putintseva next.
What of Boulter, you say? Well since she traded breaks with Bouzas Maneiro, it’s been going with serve, but the British No 1 is in danger serving at 5-5, 30-all, and the alarm bells are then ringing at 30-40. Bouzas Maneiro seizes the break with a forehand winner – and then serves out the set to love. “Horrendous, horrendous,” Boulter said to her coach at one point. I don’t think it’s been horrendous – but after starting so strongly, but failing to secure the scoreline her early play deserved, she’s looked rather edgy and needs to regather her composure in the second set.
Sinner has served a New York bagel (surely the best kind) to Michelsen, and now leads 6-4, 6-0.
Also through: The Italian 30th seed Matteo Arnaldi, who’ll next face either Thompson or Hurkacz, who’s still digging deep, locked at 5-all in the third set, with Thompson leading 7-6 (2), 6-1.
Another result: Yulia Putintseva has claimed her first win in four attempts against Wang Xinyu, coming through a much harder second set to advance 6-1, 7-6 (4).
Tomas Machac won’t be too popular on Louis Armstrong, because the Czech has defeated the home hope and 16th seed Sebastian Korda in three impressive sets, 6-4, 6-2, 6-4. Korda had such a strong build-up to the US Open, winning the title in Washington and reaching the Canadian Open semis, but he goes no further than the second round here.
Hurkacz, despite the knee injury he suffered at Wimbledon and the calf problem he picked up in Cincinnati, is doing his best to force a fourth set against Thompson, and he’s got the crowd whooping and hollering after this point too.
