Dan Evans and Cameron Norrie (28/1 – US Open Men’s Singles Outright) both earned victories at the US Open to ensure there will be four British men in the last 32 of the New York Grand Slam for the first time.
Friday’s Highlights
Andy Murray vs Matteo Berrettini
Karen Khachanov vs Jack Draper
Andy Murray and Jack Draper had already secured their spots in the third round of the tournament before Evans and Norrie both picked up confident victories in round two, seeing off James Duckworth and Joao Sousa respectively.
The impressive performances from the male quartet are a much-needed boost for British tennis at Flushing Meadows, given the fact there are no British players left in the women’s draw following the exits of Emma Raducanu (round one) and Harriet Dart (round two).
Elsewhere, Spaniard Rafael Nadal overcame a shaky start to beat Fabio Fognini and book his place in the third round for the first time since he went on to win the title for the fourth time in 2019.
The world number three, who is 3/1 to lift the trophy for the fifth time, lost the first set and was 4-2 down in the second before recovering to secure a 2-6 6-4 6-2 6-1 win over the Italian.
In the women’s draw, top seed Iga Swiatek made light work of 2017 US Open champion Sloane Stephens to win 6-3 6-2 and reach the third round for the third consecutive year.
There is plenty of action to get stuck into on Friday and the British duo of Murray and Draper will both be in action, taking on Matteo Berrettini and Karen Khachanov respectively for a place in the fourth round.
Murray, champion in 2012, has not gone past the third round at Flushing Meadows since 2016 and he faces a big task to overcome his big-serving Italian opponent, who reached the semi-final here in 2019 (Murray 13/8, Berrettini 1/2 – Match Result).
As for Draper, he takes on 26-year-old Russian Khachanov and Britain’s rising star is 8/13 to continue his impressive run on his US Open debut against his 5/4 opponent.
In the women’s draw, 2017 US Open finalist Madison Keys takes on fellow American Cori Gauff – who has never gone past third stage of the tournament – for a place in the fourth round (Keys 6/5, Gauff 4/6 – Match Result).
Also, 2022 Wimbledon runner-up Ons Jabeur continues her quest for a maiden Grand Slam title when going up against Shelby Rogers in round three (Jabeur 8/15, Rogers 6/4 – Match Result).
