Andreescu, Shapovalov march into 3rd round with straight-set wins at U.S. Open
Vancouver native Pospisil falls to Ivashka
Bianca Andreescu is into the third round at the U.S. Open.
The sixth-seeded Canadian downed American Lauren Davis, 6-4, 6-4 on Thursday, and remains undefeated at the Grand Slam following her 2019 title at Flushing Meadows in New York.
Andreescu failed to hold serve twice in the opening set but broke right back both times to avoid any sort of early trouble.
Despite 11 unforced errors and opening the match down 2-0, she quickly turned it into a 3-2 lead and finished the set by taking six of the last eight games.
WATCH | Andreescu cruises past Davis to advance into 3rd round of U.S. Open:
Both players continued to struggle holding serve in the second set, but the Mississauga, Ont., native battled through and ended the match in one hour 35 minutes.
Andreescu overcame 23 unforced errors with six aces while winning 6-of-8 break points.
Next up for Andreescu is 104th-ranked Greet Minnen of Belgium, who got into the tournament as the lucky loser.
Andreescu missed the 2020 U.S. Open, withdrawing from the tournament after battling various injuries that set her back.
Later Thursday, men's seventh seed Denis Shapovalov of Richmond Hill, Ont., earned a straight sets win over Roberto Carballes Baena of Spain to advance.
Shapovalov got stronger as the night went on, firing nine aces and taking the match 7-6 (7), 6-3, 6-0.
WATCH | Shapovalov eases his way into the 3rd round of the U.S. Open with straight sets win:
He will face Lloyd Harris of South Africa in the third round.
Meanwhile, Vancouver's Vasek Pospisil is out after a 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (5) loss to Ilya Ivashka of Belarus in second-round action on the men's side.
Pospisil had 12 aces in the match and outscored Ivashka 35-23 on winners. But the Canadian was undone by mistakes, committing 46 unforced errors, compared to just 19 by Ivashka.
Pospisil was looking to build on his comeback win over Fabio Fognini in the first round. Pospisil was down two sets before rallying to eliminate the 28th-seeded Italian.
WATCH | Vancouver's Pospisil eliminated in 2nd round of U.S. Open by Ivashka:
Djokovic wins in straight sets to advance
Novak Djokovic has easily reached the third round of the U.S. Open with a 6-2, 6-3, 6-2 victory over Tallon Griekspoor of the Netherlands.
Djokovic improved to 15-0 in second-round matches at the U.S. Open and remained unbeaten in Grand Slam matches this season. He is trying to become the first man to win all four majors in the same year since 1969.
The No. 1 seed's biggest problem came in the second set with a heckling fan, but Djokovic regained his concentration to put away the victory.
Barty eases into 3rd round with win over Tauson
Women's No. 1 seed Ash Barty advanced to the third round of the U.S. Open with a 6-1, 7-5 win over Clara Tauson.
Olympic gold medallist and 11th-seeded Belinda Bencic defeated Martina Trevisan 6-3, 6-1. Bencic reached the third round at the U.S. Open for the fifth time in her career. She reached the semifinals in 2019.
Zverev continues march through U.S. Open with straight-sets victory
Olympic gold medallist Alexander Zverev cruised to the third round of the U.S. Open with a 6-1, 6-0, 6-3 win over Albert Ramos-Vinolas.
Zverev is trying to make the U.S. Open final for the second straight year. He won the first two sets last year in the final against Dominic Thiem before losing the match in his first Grand Slam final.
Zverev won the gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics and is one of three players with four titles this season.
He needed only 74 minutes to win his 13th straight match.
Kvitova, Swiatek roll through to 3rd round
On the women's side, Petra Kvitova is headed to the third round of the U.S. Open after a 7-6 (7), 6-2 win over Kristyna Pliskova.
The two-time Wimbledon champion (2011, 2014) improved to 31-13 at Flushing Meadows but the 10th-seeded Kvitova has never advanced beyond the quarter-finals. She used nine aces to reach the third round for the 11th time in her career.
The Czech player now trails only 2020 finalist Victoria Azarenka for most U.S Open wins among women in the draw.
Swiatek survived an upset bid and held on to beat Fiona Ferro 3-6, 7-6(3), 6-0.
WATCH | Canada's Fernandez battles from behind to defeat Kanepi in 2nd round:
With files from The Associated Press
