On Day 5 of the ongoing US Open it was two unseeded 18-year-olds that stole the headlines in Arthur Ashe Stadium as Canada's Leylah Fernandez and Spain's Carlos Alcaraz defeated Naomi Osaka and Stefanos Tsitsipas respectively to move into the second week at Flushing Meadows for the very first time.
Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz captured the biggest win of his career as he defeated the World No. 3 Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-3, 4-6, 7-6(2), 0-6, 7-6(5) in a thriller to become the youngest player to reach the fourth round at a major since 1992.
"I've never seen someone hit the ball so hard," Tsitsipas said after the match, as per usopen.org. "Took time to adjust. Took time to kind of develop my game around his game style."
After Alcaraz ended the Day Session with a five-set shocker over the Greek, Fernandez opened the evening with a comeback three-set win over the two-time US Open champion, Osaka.
The Canadian summarily dismissed defending champion and also the World Number 3 Naomi Osaka by 5-7, 7-6, 6-4, to break through to the Round of 16 of a major for the first time. Osaka was up a set and a break, serving for the match at 6-5 in the second set, only to be denied.
Also on the stadium courts, the Top 20 trio of Garbine Muguruza, Simona Halep and Angelique Kerber all advanced in three sets. Muguruza opened Ashe by knocking off 2020 finalist Victoria Azarenka, 6-4, 3-6, 6-2, while Halep started the Armstrong action with a 7-6, 4-6, 6-3 result against No. 19 seed Elena Rybakina. The Romanian's victory was the longest women's match of the day, clocking in at two hours, 25 minutes, including a 64-minute opening set that ended in a 13-11 tiebreak.
( With inputs from ANI )
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