U.S. Open tennis: Nadal, Swiatek advance; Williams sisters exit doubles

Sept. 2 (UPI) -- Rafael Nadal and Iga Swiatek were the top players to advance in the men's and women's singles tournaments, while the Williams sisters were eliminated in the first round of doubles play on Day 4 of the 2022 U.S. Open.

Nadal beat Italian Fabio Fognini in four sets to move on to the third round Thursday at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing, N.Y.

The second-seeded Spaniard fired four aces, converted 9 of 14 break points and logged 37 unforced errors in the 2-6, 6-4, 6-2, 6-1 win. Fognini fired just one ace and totaled 60 errors. Nadal will meet Richard Gasquet of France in the third round.

"I'm happy after a terrible start," Nadal told reporters. "I don't understand how I started off that bad. I'm lucky that Fabio started to make some mistakes. I was able to start putting some balls in and finish the match clean."

Fellow Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz, the No. 3 seed, beat Argentine Federico Coria in straight sets to advance to the third round. No. 7 Cameron Norrie of England, No. 9 Andrey Rublev of Russia and No. 11 Jannik Sinner of Italy were among the other top men to advance.

Unseeded Belarusian Ilya Ivashka upset No. 8 Hubert Hurkacz in four sets in a three-hour, five-minute match on Court 12. No. 12 Frances Tiafoe, Brandon Nakashima and Jenson Brooksby were the American men who advanced with second-round wins.

On the women's side, Swiatek needed just 74 minutes to beat American Sloane Stephens in straight sets. The top-seeded Pole logged 14 winners and 17 unforced errors in the 6-3, 6-2 win. She also converted four break points.

No. 6 Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus, No. 8 Jessica Pegula of the United States and No. 9 Garbine Muguruza of Spain were among the other top women to advance in singles.

Croatian Petra Martic upset No. 4 Paula Badosa of Spain in three sets Thursday in Flushing. She will meet No. 26 Viktoria Azarenka of Belarus in the third round. The winner of that match will face No. 13 Belinda Bencic of Switzerland or No. 22 Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic for a spot in the quarterfinals.

Fellow Czechs Linda Noskova and Lucie Hradecka beat Americans Serena Williams and Venus Williams in the first round of the women's doubles tournament. They won that match 7-6(5), 6-4.

Canada's Leylah Fernandez and Australian Daria Saville also upset second-seeded Americans Cori "Coco" Gauff and Jessica Pegula. Gauff is the No. 1 women's doubles player in the world.

The top-seeded doubles team, which features Belgian Elise Mertens and Russia Veronika Kudermetova, beat Croatian Donna Vekic and Russian Anna Kalinskaya in straight sets in their first-round match.

Croatians Mate Pavic and Nikola Mektic, the No. 6 seeded team, were the highest-seeded duo to advance Thursday on the men's doubles circuit. They beat Americans Govind Nanda and Brandon Holt in straight sets.

No. 1 Daniil Medvedev of Russia will be the top-seeded player in action Friday on the singles circuit. He will face China's We Yibing in the third round. No. 5 Casper Ruud of Norway, No. 12 Pablo Carreno of Spain and No. 13 Matteo Berrettini of Italy also will play third-round matches.

Ruud will face No. 29 Tommy Paul of the United States. Berrettini will battle England's Andy Murray. Carreno will face No. 18 Alex de Minaur of Australia.

Serena Williams also will return to Arthur Ashe Stadium on Friday night to continue her final run in major tournament play. She will battle Australian Ajla Tomljanovic at 7 p.m. EDT in Flushing. No. 5 Ons Jabeur will take on No. 31 Shelby Rogers of the United States. Fellow Americans Coco Gauff (No. 12) and No. 20 Madison Keys will meet Friday afternoon in another third-round match.

TV schedule

All times EDT

Friday

Third round at 11 a.m. on ESPN Deportes; noon on ESPN; 6 p.m. on ESPN2; 7 p.m. on ESPN2, ESPN Deportes

Saturday

Third round at 11 a.m. on ESPN2; 11:15 a.m. on ESPN Deportes; 7 p.m. on ESPN2

Sunday

Round of 16 at 11 a.m. on ESPN; noon on ESPN Deportes; 7 p.m. on ESPN2

Monday

Round of 16 at 11 a.m. on ESPN; noon on ESPN Deportes; 7 p.m. on ESPN2, ESPN Deportes

Tuesday

Quarterfinals at noon on ESPN; 7 p.m. on ESPN

Wednesday

Quarterfinals at noon on ESPN; 7 p.m. on ESPN Deportes

Thursday

Women's semifinals at 7 p.m. on ESPN, ESPN Deportes

Sept. 9

Men's semifinals at 3 p.m. on ESPN; 7 p.m. on ESPN Deportes

Sept. 10

Women's final at 4 p.m. on ESPN, ESPN Deportes

Sept. 11

Men's final at 4 p.m. on ESPN, ESPN Deportes