{"id":2033,"date":"2026-09-02T17:50:36","date_gmt":"2026-09-02T15:50:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/eishonline.co.za\/jftl\/?p=2033"},"modified":"2026-09-02T17:50:36","modified_gmt":"2026-09-02T15:50:36","slug":"us-open-day-3-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/eishonline.co.za\/jftl\/2026\/09\/02\/us-open-day-3-3\/","title":{"rendered":"US Open &#8211; Day 3"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>On September 1st, 2026, the US Open saw big wins for Madison Keys, Taylor Fritz, and Elena Rybakina, while Yulia Putintseva stunned Belinda Bencic in one of the day\u2019s biggest upsets. Rain delays added drama, but the action inside Arthur Ashe Stadium kept fans buzzing.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\ud83c\udfbe Major Highlights<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Madison Keys<\/strong>: Defeated Alina Korneeva 7-5, 6-4, showing veteran composure against the 19-year-old debutant.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Taylor Fritz<\/strong>: The 9th seed cruised past fellow American Dali Blanch 6-3, 6-2, 6-4, looking sharp and confident.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Elena Rybakina<\/strong>: The No. 2 seed dismissed American wild card Thea Frodin 6-3, 6-2, proving her title credentials.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Mirra Andreeva<\/strong>: Dominated Janice Tjen 6-2, 6-2, continuing her rise as one of the most exciting young players.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Yulia Putintseva<\/strong>: Pulled off the upset of the day, knocking out 12th seed Belinda Bencic 4-6, 7-5, 6-3.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8 American Storylines<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Keys &amp; Fritz shine<\/strong>: Both advanced under the roof of Arthur Ashe Stadium, keeping US hopes alive.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Outer court struggles<\/strong>: Wild cards Reese Brantmeier and Thea Frodin fell short, while Robin Montgomery suffered a heartbreaking collapse against Maria Sakkari after leading 6-2, 4-0.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\ud83c\udf27\ufe0f Weather Drama<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Rain delays pushed the start of play back by four hours, disrupting schedules and forcing some matches under the stadium roof.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Despite the interruptions, the day produced thrilling tennis and memorable storylines.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\ud83d\udcca Fantasy League Impact<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Winners like Keys, Fritz, and Rybakina<\/strong> boosted managers who backed them.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Putintseva\u2019s upset<\/strong> of Bencic punished those who relied on the Olympic gold medalist for points.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>American wild cards<\/strong> proved risky picks, with most falling in the first round.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\ud83d\udd2e What\u2019s Next<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Taylor Fritz\u2019s run<\/strong>: Will he match or surpass his 2024 final appearance?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Upset watch<\/strong>: With Bencic gone, more surprises could be around the corner.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\ud83d\udcca Fantasy League Leaderboard Update \u2013 US Open 2026<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The September 1st matches shook things up, and the fantasy scoreboard reflects every upset and breakthrough. Here\u2019s how the standings look after the latest round:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Lucky Leftie<\/strong> remains firmly in first place with <strong>60 points<\/strong>, extending their lead thanks to consistent picks that keep delivering.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Dropshots<\/strong> holds second place on <strong>52 points<\/strong>, staying competitive but needing a big win to close the gap.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Christopher Columbus<\/strong> has surged into third with <strong>51 points<\/strong>, tied with <strong>Hit and Miss<\/strong>, showing how quickly fortunes can change in this league.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Serving looks<\/strong> slipped to fifth on <strong>47 points<\/strong>, proving that even strong teams can be vulnerable when their stars stumble.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\ud83d\udd25 Movers and Shakers<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Nutty Choice<\/strong> and <strong>Hit and Run<\/strong> climbed into the top 10, riding momentum from solid player performances.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Tournament Director<\/strong> dropped to 8th, showing how quickly the leaderboard can shift.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>A massive mid-table cluster \u2014 teams like <strong>Obies<\/strong>, <strong>Rock solid<\/strong>, and <strong>Miny Moe<\/strong> \u2014 are all within striking distance of the top 10.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\ud83c\udfbe What It Means<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The <strong>gap at the top<\/strong> is growing, but not insurmountable. A deep run from a surprise pick could still flip the script.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The <strong>battle for third place<\/strong> is fierce, with multiple teams tied or within a point of each other.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The <strong>mid-table pack<\/strong> is enormous, meaning one upset win could vault a team 10 spots higher overnight.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"486\" height=\"648\" src=\"http:\/\/eishonline.co.za\/jftl\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2026\/09\/image-2.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2035\" srcset=\"http:\/\/eishonline.co.za\/jftl\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2026\/09\/image-2.png 486w, http:\/\/eishonline.co.za\/jftl\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2026\/09\/image-2-225x300.png 225w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 486px) 100vw, 486px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"490\" height=\"513\" src=\"http:\/\/eishonline.co.za\/jftl\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2026\/09\/image-3.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2036\" srcset=\"http:\/\/eishonline.co.za\/jftl\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2026\/09\/image-3.png 490w, http:\/\/eishonline.co.za\/jftl\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2026\/09\/image-3-287x300.png 287w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 490px) 100vw, 490px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On September 1st, 2026, the US Open saw big wins for Madison Keys, Taylor Fritz, and Elena Rybakina, while Yulia Putintseva stunned Belinda Bencic in one of the day\u2019s biggest upsets. Rain delays added drama, but the action inside Arthur Ashe Stadium kept fans buzzing. \ud83c\udfbe Major Highlights \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8 American Storylines \ud83c\udf27\ufe0f Weather Drama \ud83d\udcca [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2034,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2033","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-us-open-2026"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/eishonline.co.za\/jftl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2033","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/eishonline.co.za\/jftl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/eishonline.co.za\/jftl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/eishonline.co.za\/jftl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/eishonline.co.za\/jftl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2033"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/eishonline.co.za\/jftl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2033\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2037,"href":"http:\/\/eishonline.co.za\/jftl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2033\/revisions\/2037"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/eishonline.co.za\/jftl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2034"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/eishonline.co.za\/jftl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2033"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/eishonline.co.za\/jftl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2033"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/eishonline.co.za\/jftl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2033"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}