IT was not a great day for the clay court dominant players in the men’s US Open Round of 64 on day three, with two of the best clay courters bowing out at Flushing Meadows among three top 16 seeds. The bottom half of the draw has really opened up with only the seven seeds remaining of the 16 players, and a number of talents reaching the third round of the tournament for the first time.

The two big upsets from a clay court dominant perspective were the losses of eighth seed Casper Ruud and 16th seed Cristian Garin who both bowed out to much lower ranked opponents. The Norwegian Top 10 seed lost to 117th ranked Dutchman Botic van de Zandschulp, with the qualifier booking his spot in the third round. Now having toppled his previous bests of Round of 64 at both Roland Garros and Wimbledon this year, the 25-year-old will have learnt a lot from his come-from-behind triumph over Ruud, 3-6 6-4 6-3 6-4 in three hours and five minutes. He smashed a whopping 50 winners to 27, and only sacrificed 35 unforced errors to 30, winning 76 per cent of his net points and breaking four times to two in the match.

Garin had a forgettable four-set loss at the hands of 29-year-old Swiss qualifier Henri Laaksonen, losing 3-6 7-6 6-2 6-4 with Laaksonen backing up his impressive win over Australian John Millman in the opening round. Both players hit 33 unforced errors, but Laaksonen produced four more winners (42-38) and won 72 and 53 per cent of his first and second serve points compared to Garin’s 66 and 48 per cent. Meanwhile the other Top 16 seed to fall was 15th seed Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov, who went down to Australian talent Alexei Popyrin. The Aussie won 7-6 7-6 4-0, grabbing control in the third set after two tight tiebreakers before Dimitrov had to retire. Popyrin served 12 aces and had 14 less unforced errors (27-41) and only one less winner (29-30) in the victory.

At the top end of the seeded players, second seed Daniil Medvedev and third seed Stefanos Tsitsipas both won through to the third round. Medvedev got the job done over German Dominik Koepfer 6-4 6-1 6-2 to cruise into the Round of 32, while Tsitsipas proved too strong for Frenchman Adrian Mannarino, getting up 6-3 6-4 6-7 6-0 with a dominant fourth set after dropping the third in a tiebreaker. The third highest ranked player out on court on day three in Andrey Rublev belted his way into the Round of 32, coming back from losing the second set in a tiebreaker to Spain’s Pedro Martinez, to post a 7-6 6-7 6-1 6-1 victory in two hours and 52 minutes. Rublev served up a massive 18 aces and mind-boggling 67 winners to completely dismantle Martinez in the last two sets, breaking him five times in those sets, for six overall. He also won 83 and 56 per cent of his first and second serve points compared to Martinez’ 63 and 46 per cent.

Other seeds to advance earlier in the day was young gun Canadian, Felix Auger-Aliassime, and experienced duo Roberto Bautista Agut and Daniel Evans. The trio joined the five other seeds in the Round of 32. Given the upsets in the opening round there were still six all unseeded clashes meaning plenty of lower ranked players making their way through to the third round. Spanish young gun Carlos Alcaraz forced his way into the Round of 32 with a 7-6 4-6 6-1 6-4 victory over Frenchman Arthur Rinderknecht, as Frances Tiafoe became the sole United States representative getting up on the day thanks to a 6-1 6-2 7-5 triumph over Guido Pella. In the all-Argentinian clash, Facundo Bagnis defeated Marco Trungelliti, while Slovakian Alex Molvan, Spaniard Pablo Andujar and German Peter Gojowczyk also won through to the next stage. In the late game, 11th seed Diego Schwartzman and former Top 5 player Kevin Anderson had to overcome rain delays and a court switch for a 7-6 6-3 6-4 win.

US OPEN ROUND OF 64 RESULTS:

[2] Daniil Medvedev (RUS) defeated Dominik Koepfer (GER) 6-4 6-1 6-2
[3] Stefanos Tsitsipas (GRE) defeated Adrian Mannarino (FRA) 6-3 6-4 6-7 6-0
[5] Andrey Rublev (RUS) defeated Pedro Martinez (ESP) 7-6 6-7 6-1 6-1
Botic van de Zandschulp (NED) defeated [8] Casper Ruud (NOR) 3-6 6-4 6-3 6-4
[11] Diego Schwartzman (ARG) defeated Kevin Anderson (RSA) 7-6 6-3 6-4
[12] Felix Auger-Aliassime (CAN) defeated Bernabe Zapata Miralles (ESP) 7-6 6-3 6-2
Alexei Popyrin (AUS) defeated [15] Grigor Dimitrov (BUL) 7-6 7-6 4-0 RET
Henri Laaksonen (SUI) defeated [16] Cristian Garin (CHI) 3-6 7-6 6-2 6-4
[18] Roberto Bautista Agut (ESP) defeated Emil Ruusuvuori (FIN) 6-1 6-3 6-2
[24] Daniel Evans (GBR) defeated Marcos Giron (USA) 6-4 7-6 2-6 6-3
Frances Tiafoe (USA) defeated Guido Pella (ARG) 6-1 6-2 7-5
Carlos Alcaraz (ESP) defeated Arthur Rinderknech (FRA) 7-6 4-6 6-1 6-4
Peter Gojowczyk (GER) defeated Dusan Lajovic (SRB) 2-6 6-4 2-6 7-5 6-4
Pablo Andujar (ESP) defeated Philipp Kohlschreiber (GER) 6-4 6-3 6-1
Alex Molvan (SVK) defeated Brandon Nakashima (USA) 6-3 3-6 1-6 6-2 6-4
Facundo Bagnis (ARG) defeated Marco Trungelliti (ARG) 7-6 4-6 6-3 6-3

Picture credit: ATP Tour