his recent controversy in Cincinnati behind him.
Thanks Niall. An accomplished win by Pegula in what could have been a far trickier match against her fellow American, who won the Australian Open four years ago and defeated Emma Raducanu in the first round on Tuesday. Victory too for Beatriz Haddad Maia, who’s created a little bit of history for Brazil with her 6-2, 6-1 win over Spain’s Sara Sorribes Tormo:
Jessica Pegula closes the match out with an ace, beating Sofia Kenin 7-6, 6-3. next, she will play namesake Jessica Bouzas Maneiro, who ousted Katie Boulter earlier on.
Jack Draper has closed out the second set to lead 6-4, 6-2, and the third set is on serve at 1-1. With that, time to hand you back to Katy …
Draper is close to wrapping up the second set, leading Diaz Acosta 6-4, 5-2. It’s also 5-2 to Jessica Pegula in the second set, while Sky have taken us out to Court Six, where Jamie Murray and John Peers were locked in a deciding tie-break in their men’s doubles first-round match – but they’ve just lost it, 13-11, to Andre Goransson and Sem Verbeek.
Sofia Kenin strikes back with an early break in the second set – but can’t back it up as Pegula hits straight back. Two-all in the second, and a frustrating day for Kenin after knocking Emma Raducanu out in the first round.
Adrian Mannarino (36 years old) leads David Goffin (33) after winning the first-set tie break between two wizened old stagers who are both significantly younger than me.
Pegula wins the tie-break, 7-4, with Kenin’s level dropping at the worst time after looking the better player for much of the third set. Alex de Minaur has now won seven games on the spin from 5-2 down, and leads Virtanen by a set and a break.
And Draper’s fightback to hold for the first set seems to have taken the wind out of his opponent. The Briton is now a double break up in the second, leading 6-4, 4-1.
Alex de Minaur has broken back against Virtanen, and is now serving at 5-4 down in the first set. His compatriot, Thanasi Kokkinakis, sent Stefanos Tsitsipas out in the first round but is two sets down to Portugal’s Nuno Borges in his second-round match.
On Louis Armstrong, American duo Sofia Kenin and Jessica Pegula are on a bit earlier than expected after Pliskova’s early retirement. Pegula has just served out to set up a first-set tie-break.
Jack Draper is serving for the set, but Diaz Acosta isn’t willing to hand it over – and punishes some weak first serves to bring up two break points. From 15-40 down, Draper gets his act together and seals the set with an ace out wide.
Utterly dominant from Iga Swiatek, who marches into the third round in just over an hour. She will face Elisabetta Cocciaretto or Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova next.
The fourth seed in the women’s draw, Elena Rybakina, has pulled out of the tournament before her second-round match with France’s Jessika Ponchet. No word on what the specific injury issue is yet, although Rybakina has barely played in the six weeks since losing in the Wimbledon semi-finals. She has also split with her long-time coach, and gave only a brief press conference after her first-round win here.
Thanks, Katy. Swiatek is on the cusp of victory, leading Shibahara 6-0, 5-1 and ready to serve it out. No double bagel, but a bagel and a breadstick is on the cards.
Right I’m off for some dinner, so here’s Niall McVeigh to guide you through the next stages of Draper’s match and beyond …
Source: theguardian.com
