THE US Open second round is done and dusted, with a couple more seeds falling as the top seeds came away mostly unscathed.

It was another good day for Italians with seeds Matteo Berrettini and Jannik Sinner both winning their respective matches in four sets, as Andreas Seppi joined the party with an upset of 10th seed Hubert Hurkacz. For Berrettini, it was a fairly straightforward match as he overcame a second set burst from Frenchman Corentin Moutet to claim a 7-6(2) 4-6 6-4 6-3 result, while Sinner overcame a tough effort from up-and-coming American wildcard Zachary Svajda to post a 6-3 7-6(2) 6-7(6) 6-4 victory. While Seppi dropped the first set to a fast starting Hurkacz, it did not take the Italian long to exert some control on the clash as he forced the Pole into uncomfortable positions to eventually win 2-6 6-4 6-4 7-6(6), weather a tight final set tiebreaker to take out the victory. While Hurkacz fired off 27 aces for 45 winners, he also racked up 47 unforced errors as Seppi’s cleanliness and win rate on serve reigned supreme. Unfortunately, Lorenzo Musetti could not make it a clean sweep against 22nd seed Reilly Opelka, with the American firing off 31 aces and 61 winners to complete the result in three sets, 7-6(1) 7-5 6-4.

First and fourth seeds Novak Djokovic and Alexander Zverev both starred throughout their respective three set clashes, with Djokovic outclassing Dutchman Tallon Griekspoor 6-2 6-3 6-2 in one hour and 39 minutes. The Serbian world number one won 80 per cent of points off his first serve, and hit 13 aces to claim the victory, while Zverev raced past Spaniard Albert Ramos-Vinolas in just 74 minutes. The German fourth seed starred on serve, winning a huge 93 per cent of points off an 81 per cent clip and keeping Ramos-Vinolas to just 10 winners as he sped through the 6-1 6-0 6-3 result.

“My serve is kind of the key to my game,” Zverev said. “When it’s working I’m playing great. When it’s not, I’m losing matches like I did at Wimbledon… It’s no secret that my serve is probably the most important shot in my game, and I’m happy with how it’s working… The matches are not going to get easier and I will need that to be my weapon.

”I think it was always a problem of mine in the beginning of my career that I always spent a lot of hours, a lot of time in the beginning of Grand Slam tournaments. So it’s nice to have kind of two matches… winning [them] in straight sets.”

Of the remaining four seeds competing on the fourth day, the battle between seventh seed Denis Shapovalov and Roberto Carballes Baena looked to be a tough one before the Canadian seed outclassed the Spaniard 7-6(7) 6-3 6-0, as 17th seed Gael Monfils and 21st seed Aslan Karatsev earned third round berths and 31st seeded Kazakh Alexander Bublik joined Hurkacz on the sidelines following a five-set loss to American Jack Sock. Karatsev was forced to work for his ride into the Round of 32, fighting from two sets down to claim a 3-6 3-6 7-5 7-6(9) 6-1 victory over Australian Jordan Thompson. The Russian had to fight back from two match points to claim the win in four hours and 44 minutes, with the fourth set tiebreaker requiring 18 minutes of hard-fought effort before the Russian closed out the narrow set win and eventual victory. Sock also required five sets to overcome his opposition in Bublik, outclassing the Kazakh 31st seed 7-6(3) 6-7(2) 6-4 4-6 6-3 in three hours and 32 minutes. Sock weathered Bublik’s whopping 40 aces to steal the win, winning just two more points overall and making less unforced errors 40-52.

In other games, Oscar Otte and Jenson Brooksby both claimed upsets over fellow unseeded opposition, with the former outclassing American Denis Kudla 6-4 6-4 6-2, as the latter downed compatriot Taylor Fritz 6-7(7) 7-6(10) 7-5 6-2 in a hard-fought four-plus hour result. Three more Americans in Mackenzie McDonald, Maxim Cressy and Ernesto Escobedo joined Kudla and Fritz on the sidelines following losses to Kei Nishikori, Nikoloz Basilashvili and Lloyd Harris, respectively, as recent titleist Ilya Ivashka rounded out the day’s winners with a three set defeat of Canadian Vasek Pospisil.

US OPEN ROUND OF 64 RESULTS:

[1] Novak Djokovic (SRB) defeated Tallon Griekspoor (NED) 6-2 6-3 6-2
[4] Alexander Zverev (GER) defeated Albert Ramos-Vinolas (ESP) 6-1 6-0 6-3
[6] Matteo Berrettini (ITA) defeated Corentin Moutet (FRA) 7-6 4-6 6-4 6-3
[7] Denis Shapovalov (CAN) defeated Roberto Carballes Baena (ESP) 7-6 6-3 6-0
Andreas Seppi (ITA) defeated [10] Hubert Hurkacz (POL) 2-6 6-4 6-4 7-6
[13] Jannik Sinner (ITA) defeated Zachary Svajda (USA) 6-3 7-6 6-7 6-4
[17] Gael Monfils (FRA) defeated Steve Johnson (USA) 7-5 4-6 6-4 6-4
[21] Aslan Karatsev (RUS) defeated Jordan Thompson (AUS) 3-6 3-6 7-5 7-6 6-1
[22] Reilly Opelka (USA) defeated Lorenzo Musetti (ITA) 7-6 7-5 6-4
Jack Sock (USA) defeated [31] Alexander Bublik (KAZ) 7-6 6-7 6-4 4-6 6-3
Oscar Otte (GER) defeated Denis Kudla (USA) 6-4 6-4 6-2
Jenson Brooksby (USA) defeated Taylor Fritz (USA) 6-7 7-6 7-5 6-2
Kei Nishikori (JPN) defeated Mackenzie McDonald (USA) 7-6 6-3 6-7 2-6 6-3
Nikoloz Basilashvili (GEO) defeated Maxim Cressy (USA) 7-6 6-3 7-5
Ilya Ivashka (BLR) defeated Vasek Pospisil (CAN) 6-3 6-4 7-6
Lloyd Harris (RSA) defeated Ernesto Escobedo (USA) 6-4 6-4 6-2

Picture credit: Darren Carroll/USTA