US Open 2024 Men’s Day 3

Fourth seed Alexander Zverev, runner-up four years ago to Dominic Thiem, ran down French wildcard Alexandre Muller 6-4, 7-6 (5), 6-1 in hot and draining  conditions at the US Open on Wednesday.

The German claimed his ATP-leading 54 match win of the season to reach the third round here for a sixth consecutive appearance.

He will line up against Tomas Martin Etcheverry, a 6-3, 4-6, 6-4, 1-6, 6-3 winner over fellow South American Francisco Cerundolo in a draining four-hour struggle.

“I played much better than in the first round, at some point he also played

some very good tennis, especially in the second set,” Zverev said.

“I’m happy to be through in three sets, weather and conditions are extremely
difficult today. It’s very hot, very humid. 

“The less time I spend on the court, the better it is.”

With temperature hitting 34 Celsius before a drop expected later in the week, the seed said he was not particularly bothered by conditions.

“Sometimes the rainy days in Paris or Wimbledon are more miserable. Today is just hot and humid, but I felt good. 

“I was at some point very, very wet (sweaty). The whole court was flooded from me, but I felt good physically.”

Sixth seed Andrey Rublev completed the second fightback of his career from two sets to love down, overpowering Arthur Rinderknech of France 4-6, 5-7, 6-1, 6-2, 6-2.

Rublev was seen briefly by the doctor, who gave him a tablet as the contest hit the four-hour mark. The seed  served out the win moments later.

Ninth seed Grigor Dimitrov hammered 15 aces in his 6-1, 6-1, 7-6 (4) win over Australian Rinky Hijikata.

The Bulgarian was joined in the third round by Jiri Lehecka, who came from the depths after four hours to overcome American Mitchell Krueger 6-7 (5), 0-6, 6-4, 6-4, 7-5.

The Czech managed 29 aces and contributed 13 double-faults against the No. 179 qualifier competing at age 30 in only the fourth Grand Slam singles draw of his career.

He moved into a match with Rublev.

Frances Tiafoe beat the heat as Kazakh opponent Alexander Shevchenko had to quit after the mandatory weather pause, with the American 20th seed moving on 6-4, 6-1, 1-0, retired.

“It was nice we got to play in some shade from the (stadium) roof,” last week’s Cincinnati finalist said. “I was happy to get it done today.

“You hate to win this way… I don’t know how many singlets I went through today (five).

“I’m playing better and more aggressively, I’m serving better. I’m trying to find my way to the net as well,” Tiafoe said after reaching the third round at the home major for a fifth straight year.

Surprise Montreal winner Alexei Popyrin advanced 6-2, 6-4, 6-0 over Spain’s Pedro Martinez while American Brandon Nakashima followed up his defeat of 15th seed Holger Rune by putting out France’s Arthur Cazaux 6-4, 6-4, 6-2.