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Aug. 31 (UPI) -- Novak Djokovic, Iga Swiatek and Coco Gauff advanced, while Casper Ruud and Stefanos Tsitsipas were upset in the second round of the 2023 U.S. Open in Flushing, N.Y. Djokovic totaled five aces, converted 6 of 11 break points and logged 35 winners in his 6-4, 6-1, 6-1 triumph over unranked Spaniard David Zapata Mirales on Wednesday at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
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"I'm pleased with the way I'm feeling and playing on the court," Djokovic told reporters. "I can always be better. In the first two rounds, I didn't spend too much time on the court. I played very solid. Hopefully I can keep building."
The No. 2 men's player will face No. 38 and fellow Serbian Laslo Djere in the third round.
Americans Taylor Fritz (No. 9), Frances Tiafoe (No. 10) and Tommy Paul (No. 14) were the other top men's players to advance on Day 3 of the Grand Slam.
Fritz dispatched of No. 74 Juan Pablo Varillas in a 1-hour, 41-minute match. The American totaled 10 aces, 26 winners and broke Varillas' serve six times in the 6-1, 6-2, 6-2 victory at Louis Armstrong Stadium.
Tiafoe beat No. 58 Sebastian Ofner of Australia 6-3, 6-1, 6-4 in a 1-hour, 32-minute match. He converted 5 of 6 break points in that triumph.
Paul beat No. 60 Roman Safiullin of Russia in a 3-hour, 12-minute second-round match. He totaled 10 aces and 43 winners and broke Safiullin's serve five times in the 3-6, 2-6, 6-2, 6-4, 6-3 triumph.
Paul and Tiafoe could meet in the quarterfinals if they both win their next two matches. Paul will take on No. 47 Ben Shelton of the United States if he wins his next match, which will be against no. 21 Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.
Shelton advanced to the third round after No. 81 Dominic Thiem of Australia retired from their second-round match.
Ruud exited Wednesday after he lost to No. 67 Zhizhen Zhang of China in a 3-hour, 19-minute match. Zhang fired 18 aces and 60 winners in the 6-4, 5-7, 6-2, 0-6, 6-2 victory over the No. 5 Norwegian.
Tsitsipas lost in one of the longest matches of the day. No. 128 Dominic Stricker of Switzerland won that 4-hour, 4-minute match 7-5, 6(2)-7, 6(5)-7, 7-6(6), 6-3.
He totaled 79 winners, 40 unforced errors and converted 6 of 13 break point opportunities in the win over his No. 7 Greek foe. Tsitsipas totaled 22 aces and converted 4 of 8 break points, but logged 42 unforced errors.
No. 1 Iga Swiatek of Poland, No. 4 Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan, No. 6 Coco Gauff of the United States, No. 10 Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic and No. 13 Belinda Bencic of Switzerland were the top women's players to advance.
Swiatek totaled two aces, converted 5 of 6 break points and logged 23 winners in the 6-3, 6-4 triumph. Rybakina beat No. 127 Ajla Tomljanovic of Australia via walkover.
Gauff needed just 76 minutes to dispatch of No. 63 Mirra Andreeva of Russia. She totaled 24 winners and converted 4 of 5 break points in the 6-3, 6-2 victory.
"I was really trying to take advantage of when I was in the lead and continuing to be aggressive," Gauff said. "I'm happy I was able to get it in straight sets."
Muchova beat No. 77 Magdalena Frech of Poland 6-3, 6-3. Bencic beat No. 198 Yuriko Miyazaki of the United Kingdom 6-3, 6-3 on Court 5.
No. 11 Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic was the top women's player upset on Day 3. No. 623 Caroline Wozniacki, who is playing in her first Grand Slam since the 2020 Australia Open, won that match 7-5, 7-6(5). Wozniacki totaled 13 unforced errors, compared to 40 for Kvitova, in the 2-hour, 8-minute match.
No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz of Spain, No. 3 Daniil Medvedev of Russia, No. 6 Jannik Sinner of Italy and No. 8 Andrey Rublev of Russia will be among the top men in action Thursday in Flushing.
No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus, No. 3 Jessica Pegula of the United States, No. 5 Ons Jabeur of Tunisia and No. 9 Marketa Vondrousova of the Czech Republic will be the top women with second-round matches on Day 3.
