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U.S. Open tennis: Novak Djokovic fights through shoulder injury to advance

By Connor Grott
Novak Djokovic of Serbia hits a backhand in his second-round match against Juan Ignacio Londero of Argentina on Wednesday in Arthur Ashe Stadium at the 2019 US Open Tennis Championships at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. Photo by John Angelillo/UPI
1 of 16 | Novak Djokovic of Serbia hits a backhand in his second-round match against Juan Ignacio Londero of Argentina on Wednesday in Arthur Ashe Stadium at the 2019 US Open Tennis Championships at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. Photo by John Angelillo/UPI | License Photo

Aug. 28 (UPI) -- Top-seeded Novak Djokovic advanced to the third round at the 2019 U.S. Open with a straight-sets win over Juan Ignacio Londero on Wednesday at USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing, N.Y.

Djokovic fought through a shoulder injury to defeat Londero 6-4, 7-6 (3), 6-1. The defending men's U.S. Open champion received treatment multiple times in the match and fell into a 3-0 hole in the second set.

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The Serbian battled back to take the second set in a tiebreaker and cruised to the victory in the third. Djokovic will face either Dusan Lajovic or Denis Kudla in the next round.

In other action from the men's draw, No. 3 seed Roger Federer was a set down again but rallied to defeat Bosnia and Herzegovina's Damir Dzumhur in four sets to reach the third round.

Federer, who lost the first set in his first-round match against Sumit Nagal, found himself down again to a lower-ranked player. The five-time U.S. Open champion responded, winning the next three sets to claim a 3-6, 6-2, 6-3, 6-4 victory over Dzumhur.

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The Swiss star is now 19-0 in second-round matches at Flushing Meadows. He advances to play either 25th-seeded Lucas Pouille or Daniel Evans in the third round.

No. 7 seed Kei Nishikori, the 2014 men's runner-up at the tournament, defeated American Bradley Klahn 6-2, 4-6, 6-3, 7-5. He will take on the winner of the matchup between No. 31 seed Cristian Garin and Alex de Minaur in the next round.

No. 12 seed Borna Coric, who beat Russian Evgeny Donskoy in the opening round, pulled out of the tournament due to a back injury, giving Grigor Dimitrov a ticket into the third round.

In the women's draw, fifth-seeded Elina Svitolina defeated Venus Williams 6-4, 6-4 in their second-round match. Svitolina improved to 13-3 in Grand Slam matches this season.

No. 3 seed Karolina Pliskova, a finalist in the 2016 U.S. Open, joined Svitolina in the third round with a dominant win against Mariam Bolkvadze in straight sets. She hit nine aces and won 90 percent of her first-serve points.

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American Madison Keys, the tournament's No. 10 seed, beat China's Lin Zhu 6-4, 6-1 to advance. Second-seeded Ashleigh Barty defeated Lauren Davis 6-2, 7-6 (2) to reach the third round for a third consecutive year.

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