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The latest updates from Flushing Meadows on day six as the third round begins, with Niall McVeigh as your guide
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Sport — Niall McVeigh
Pegula is in trouble against Fernandez, who leads 5-1 after breaking the No 3 seed for a second time. Pegula is looking low on energy and ideas so far.
Sabalenka escapes a spot of bother on serve , and leads Rakhimova 6-3, 1-1. The defending champion also spoke to the umpire about the smell of cannabis drifting into the Louis Armstrong Stadium from outside. Not entirely sure what the umpire can do, but it’s been a persistent problem at the US Open.
Related: Keep off the grass: British tennis players complain of marijuana smell at US Open
Alexandrova has bounced back at the start of the second set, breaking Kostyuk to lead it 2-0 after losing the first set 6-3. Fernandez moved 3-0 up and put pressure on the Pegula serve, but the No 3 seed has battled to get a game on the board.
Leylah Fernandez has broken Pegula early, taking a 2-0 lead in the first. You might recall that Fernandez was Emma Raducanu’s opponent in the 2021 US Open final; since losing that match, the Canadian has only gone past the third round at a slam once (the 2022 French Open, where she made the quarter-finals) but has won five WTA Tour titles and is a consistent presence in the world’s top 30. So which career path would you prefer: hers or Raducanu’s?
Sabalenka takes the first set 6-3, remaining dominant against an opponent who is playing decent stuff. Marta Kostyuk also claims the first set 6-3 over Alexandrova, while Sorana Cirstea has claimed the opener against Paolini by the same score. That feels like an upset, even though Cirstea is seeded higher – No 16 to Paolini’s 19.
First up on Ashe: it’s Jessica Pegula v Leylah Fernandez .
It’s quite fun picturing Monfils working on the accounts, getting deep in a hole before stylishly producing the goods after a four-hour tussle. Are there any other tennis legends who have taken an office job after retiring? Or any other vocation away from sport? Drop me a line with your suggestions.
Gaël Monfils played his last grand slam singles match last night, and he isn’t planning to stay in tennis after retirement. “I have a new chapter coming next year. I will work in finance,” he told reporters. “I already signed to work in wealth management in a Swiss company. So my next chapter … working in an office.”
“I will always have a look on tennis, because I love the sport. My wife’s playing. I don’t think, you know, this next year I will do so much about tennis,” Monfils added. “But, you know, I’ll be around definitely no matter what for Elina [Svitolina, his wife] a little bit, but I will be more of a finance guy.”
Related: Gaël Monfils takes final grand slam bow after US Open defeat to Learner Tien
Rakhimova is hanging on in the first set, grinding out a hold when Sabalenka mishits. It’s a rare error from the No 1 seed, who has looked close to her relentless best today. She leads 4-2 in the first.
On the Grandstand court, Marta Kostyuk has also broken at the first time of asking against Ekaterina Alexandrova. Elsewhere, Jasmine Paolini began with an early break but has been pegged back by Sorana Cirstea; the Italian leads 2-1 on serve.
Aryna Sabalenka is up and running, quickly breaking Kamilla Rakhimova to lead 2-0 in the first set. Rakhimova, the world No 92, showed plenty of fight in the first round, though, saving match points before beating Barbora Krejcikova.
Related: Alex de Minaur bombs out of US Open in shock second-round defeat
Related: Gaël Monfils takes final grand slam bow after US Open defeat to Learner Tien
Related: Naomi Osaka grinds it out to see off Siniakova’s stubborn US Open challenge
The third round gets under way today in New York, pitting seeded players against each other for the first time. The draw is about to really take shape, and there are some intriguing matches coming up. Here’s the order of play this afternoon.
Arthur Ashe Stadium (from 11.30am local/4.30pm BST)
(3) Jessica Pegula v Leylah Fernandez (31)
Night session: Venus/Serena v Chan/Joint, Shelton v Shaparov
Night session: Vacharot v Tiafoe, Svitolina v Kalinskaya
(11) Marta Kostyuk v Ekaterina Alexandrova (18)
(7) Daniil Medvedev v Arthur Rinderknech (26)
(19) Jasmine Paolini v Sorena Cirstea (16)
Sabalenka escapes a spot of bother on serve , and leads Rakhimova 6-3, 1-1. The defending champion also spoke to the umpire about the smell of cannabis drifting into the Louis Armstrong Stadium from outside. Not entirely sure what the umpire can do, but it’s been a persistent problem at the US Open.
This report is published with credit to theguardian.com. Full available text from the wire is above. Read on theguardian.com →
Source: theguardian.com · Niall McVeigh. Published 4 Sept 2026, 04:13 pm.
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