US Open Day five highlights

Felix Auger-Aliassime beat Roberto Bautista Agut 6-3 6-4 4-6 3-6 6-3, firing 27 aces and 76 winners past the Spaniard who stayed in the contest thanks to 74 unforced errors from the Canadian.

He was joined in the next round by Argentine 11th seed Diego Schwartzman, who breezed past Alex Molcan 6-4 6-3 6-3, and Dutch qualifier Botic van de Zandschulp who overcame Facundo Bagnis 3-6 6-0 6-2 6-2.

After her third round loss, Naomi Osaka said she felt more relief than happiness when she wins and gets “very sad” when she loses, adding she was not sure when she would play again.

“Basically I feel like I’m kind of at this point where I’m trying to figure out what I want to do and I honestly don’t know when I’m going to play my next tennis match. I think I’m going to take a break from playing for a while,” Osaka said.

Canadian 18-year-old Leylah Fernandez upset defending champion Naomi Osaka 5-7 7-6(2) 6-4 at Arthur Ashe Stadium to march into the fourth round.

Earlier, Elise Mertens beat Ons Jabeur 6-3 7-5 in the third round.

Spanish 18-year-old Carlos Alcaraz stunned Greek third seed Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-3 4-6 7-6(2) 0-6 7-6(5) to become the youngest men’s player to reach the U.S. Open fourth round since Michael Chang (17) and Pete Sampras (18) in 1989.

He next meets Germany’s Peter Gojowczyk who beat Henri Laaksonen 3-6 6-3 6-1 6-4.

Former champion Angelique Kerber made a slow start before battling past 2017 winner Sloane Stephens 5-7 6-2 6-3. Earlier, Ukrainian fifth seed Elina Svitolina strolled into the next round with a 6-4 6-2 win over Daria Kasatkina.

Briton Dan Evans, the 24th seed, clawed his way back from two sets down to beat Australian Alexei Popyrin 4-6 3-6 6-3 6-4 7-6(1) and set up a fourth-round meeting with Daniil Medvedev.

Russian second seed Daniil Medvedev, the 2019 runner-up, handed Spain’s Pablo Andujar a bagel en route to a dominant 6-0 6-4 6-3 victory to reach the fourth round.

Ninth seed Garbine Muguruza of Spain was made to work hard for a 6-4 3-6 6-2 victory over three-times finalist Victoria Azarenka in a battle between former Grand Slam champions.

In the fourth round, she will take on French Open champion Barbora Krejcikova who eased past Kamilla Rakhimova 6-4 6-2.

Simona Halep, the 12th seed, edged a tight first set and surrendered the second before finding her groove to beat big-serving Kazakh Elena Rybakina 7-6(11) 4-6 6-3.

Play got underway at Flushing Meadows where 12th seed Simona Halep is up against Kazakhstan’s big-serving Elena Rybakina. Defending champion Naomi Osaka takes on Canada’s Leylah Fernandez in the evening session on Arthur Ashe Stadium.

REUTERS