New York: In a day of upsets fourth seed Alexander Zverev, eighth seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and 14th seed Nick Kyrgios were sent packing by their respective opponents in the men’s singles segment here Wednesday.
German Zverev, whose five ATP titles this year include a win over Roger Federer in this month’s Montreal final, fell to 61st-ranked Croatian Borna Coric 3-6, 7-5, 7-6 (7-1), 7-6 (7-4). The 20-year-old German had been the highest-ranked player in his half of an injury-hit Open draw.
“It’s upsetting because the draw is pretty open in the bottom part,” Zverev said. “I felt like I should have been the favourite there. I just played a very, very bad match, so it’s unfortunate.”
Coric, who faces South African Kevin Anderson for a last 16 berth, was one point from a fifth set before winning five in a row to force the deciding tie-breaker.
Zverev’s ouster left US 10th seed John Isner the top-ranked player in his draw quarter and Croatian fifth seed Marin Cilic the best in his half of the draw.
Wimbledon runner-up Cilic, the 2014 US Open winner, reached the third round by beating Germany’s Florian Mayer 6-3, 6-3, 6-3.
Kyrgios, the 14th seed and former top-rated obstacle in Federer’s quarterfinal path, hurt his right shoulder in a 6-3, 1-6, 6-4, 6-1 first-round loss to 235th-ranked fellow Aussie John Millman.
“Early in the third set I hit one serve and I never felt the same after that,” Kyrgios told reporters after the match. “Something didn’t feel right in my arm.” Kyrgios, 22, incidentally dropped eight of the last nine games.
Austrian sixth seed Dominic Thiem ousted Aussie Alex de Minaur 6-4, 6-1, 6-1. Thiem is the highest-ranked rival now on the Federer and Nadal side of the draw.
Canadian 18-year-old qualifier Denis Shapovalov defeated French eighth seed Tsonga 6-4, 6-4, 7-6 (7-3) to book a third-round date with Britain’s Kyle Edmund.
“It’s a dream come true for me,” Shapovalov who had beaten Nadal at the Montreal Open, said after the match.
In other matches played on the day 15th seed Tomas Berdych beat Rex Harrison 6-4, 6-2, 7-6(7-4) and Alexander’s brother Mischa advanced with a nerve-wrangling 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 6-7(4-7), 7-5 win over Benoit Paire of France.
At a glance
Marin Cilic bt Florian Mayer 6-3, 6-3, 6-3
Dominic Thiem bt Alex de Minaur 6-4, 6-1, 6-1
Tomas Berdych beat Rex Harrison 6-4, 6-2, 7-6(7-4)
Mischa Zverev bt Benoit Paire 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 6-7(4-7), 7-5
Alexander Zverev lost to Borna Coric 3-6, 7-5, 7-6 (7-1), 7-6 (7-4)
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga lost to Denis Shapovalov 6-4, 6-4, 7-6 (7-3)
Nick Kyrgios lost to John Millman 6-3, 1-6, 6-4, 6-1
Agencies
