Djokovic, Swiatek cruise into 3rd round, Tsitsipas the latest upset victim at U.S. Open

When Caroline Wozniacki finished off the biggest victory of her still-fresh comeback following 3-½ years away from tennis, she sat in her U.S. Open sideline chair, leaned forward and covered her face with both hands. Then she leaned back, glanced over at her husband and her father in the stands, and smiled.

Two gold chains dangled from her neck, each carrying a name written in cursive: Olivia, for her 2-year-old daughter, and James, for her 10-month-old son.

Yes, Wozniacki clearly made the right choice to come out of retirement and try her hand at this tennis thing again, making it to the third round at Flushing Meadows by beating two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova 7-5, 7-6 (5) in Arthur Ashe Stadium on Wednesday night.

"This couldn't be better. It's a dream come true. If you had asked me three years ago," Wozniacki said, "I would have said I'll never be back here, playing on this court."

The 33-year-old from Denmark won the 2018 Australian Open and reached No. 1 in the rankings — she's currently No. 623 — during her first stint on tour. Wozniacki left the sport in early 2020 to start a family, and later spent time working as a TV analyst, and now she and former NBA player David Lee are the parents of two children.

She returned to competition this month and now is back at Flushing Meadows for the first time since 2019.

Wozniacki was the runner-up at the U.S. Open in 2009, when she lost to Kim Clijsters in the title match, and 2014, when she lost to her good friend Serena Williams.

"I love New York. I love this court. I love everything about this city and playing here," said Wozniacki, who said she planned to hang out with her kids on Thursday. "Absolutely, as soon as I came here over a week ago, I already — instantly — felt so comfortable on these courts and knew that I could play some great tennis and I would be dangerous in the draw."

Next up will be a match against 2020 U.S. Open semifinalist and 2021 Australian Open finalist Jennifer Brady, an American who recently came back to the tour after two years off because of injuries.

Tiafoe advances

Earlier, there was not much drama involved in Frances Tiafoe's second-round victory. He quickly grabbed a lead and never let go. He only faced one break point — and saved it. He volleyed terrifically. His outmatched opponent needed some help from a trainer for a bothersome neck.

And you couldn't escape the feeling that the 10th-seeded Tiafoe was having the time of his life. This is where he wants to be, no matter the details of the match. Under the lights at a Grand Slam tournament, absorbing the attention of thousands of folks in the Arthur Ashe Stadium stands and reciprocating the love while getting past Sebastian Ofner of Austria 6-3, 6-1, 6-4 in a tad more than 1-1/2 hours.

"I love it. I love it. I love all of it. I love the 1-on-1 battle. You're putting your heart on the line. Everyone's there to watch you and one other guy. You're competing like crazy. Everyone's anticipating the match. And it's like, `Who wants it more?"' Tiafoe, a 25-year-old from Maryland, said during an interview before the U.S. Open. "If you don't love that, it's the wrong sport for you. I just absolutely love being in those positions and those atmospheres."

Tiafoe took a step forward on a day two highly seeded men exited on his half of the draw: No. 5 Casper Ruud, last year's runner-up, and No. 7 Stefanos Tsitsipas. With No. 4 Holger Rune out in the first round, three of the tournament's top seven men already are gone.

Next up for Tiafoe is No. 22 Adrian Mannarino of France, who produced one wild on-the-run 'tweener during his win Wednesday.

Three other U.S. men joining Tiafoe in the third round with victories were No. 9 Taylor Fritz; No. 14 Tommy Paul, an Australian Open semifinalist in January who collected his first career comeback from two sets down to beat Roman Safiullin 3-6, 2-6, 6-2, 6-4, 6-3; and Ben Shelton, who advanced when 2020 champion Dominic Thiem stopped playing in the second set after being visited by a physiotherapist.

Another man from the United States, No. 28 Chris Eubanks, lost in four sets to Benjamin Bonzi of France.

"We all grew up together. We know each other so well. American tennis is in a great place," Tiafoe said. "Hopefully we keep going and hopefully we end that streak."

In earlier action Wednesday, defending champion Iga Swiatek and Coco Gauff remained on course for a quarterfinal showdown with straight-set victories, while 23-time major champ Novak Djokovic also had little trouble moving into the third round.

But Ruud, who lost to Alcaraz in last year's final in New York and also was the runner-up at the French Open in 2022 and 2023, was beaten by Zhang Zhizhen of China 6-4, 5-7, 7-2, 0-6, 6-2.

And Tsitsipas, a two-time Slam finalist never past the third round in New York, was eliminated by 128th-ranked Swiss qualifier Dominic Stricker 7-5, 6-7 (2), 6-7 (5) 7-6 (6), 6-3.

"I consider myself a good player, and I don't want to be a person that can be beaten easily or [give] my opponents an easy time on the court against me," said Tsitsipas, who served for the win at 5-3 in the fourth set. "I try to make it as hard as I can, and if it doesn't work, it doesn't work. I move on with my life."

Fernandez, Townsend advance in women's doubles

Meanwhile, Canada's Leylah Fernandez and her American partner Taylor Townsend advanced to the second round of the U.S. Open's women's doubles tournament.

Fernandez and Townsend beat Olivia Center and Kate Fakih of the United States 6-0, 6-3.

Fernandez, from Laval, Que., and Townsend won five of 12 break points.

They had an 83 per cent win percentage on first serve compared to their opponents' 52 per cent.

Fernandez and Townsend also dominated on second serve 73 per cent to 42 per cent.

They will face the winner of a match between France's Alize Cornet and Polish partner Katarzyna Piter and the Spanish pairing of Rebeka Masarova and Aliona Bolsova.

Gauff tops Andreeva

Also, Coco Gauff cruised into the third round with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over 16-year-old Russian Mirra Andreeva.

The sixth-seeded American approached the net 18 times, winning 15 of those points, and she credited that newfound net game after struggling to beat German Laura Siegemund in three sets in the first round.

"I learned to be aggressive," the 19-year-old Gauff said in her on-court interview. "I did well making her play off her back foot."

Fourth-seeded Elena Rybakina advanced to the third round after Ajla Tomljanovic of Australia withdrew. Tomljanovic, who was sidelined nearly all this season by a knee injury after beating Serena Williams last year in the 23-time Grand Slam singles champion's final match.

Zhu Lin of China defeated 18th-seeded Victoria Azarenka 6-3, 6-3; American Taylor Townsend beat 19th-seeded Brazilian Beatriz Haddad Maia 7-6 (1), 7-5; 10th-seeded Karolina Muchova beat Magdalena Frech of Poland 6-3, 6-3; and 15th-seeded Belinda Bencic of Switzerland downed British qualifier Yuriko Lily Miyazaki 6-3, 6-3.