Round 1 of the last slam of the year is done and dusted and in fact round 2 is well and truly underway. As per day 1, day 2 was just as unexpected and once again saw some crazy tight matches, some incredible comeback wins and some surprise losses.

In the men’s draw, the first seed to fall on day 2 was the 24th seed, Griekspoor who lost in 5 sets to Frenchman Fils who won his first US Open main draw match. Fils did this by coming back from 2 sets to 1 down to take the match 4-6; 6-3; 5-7; 6-4; 7-5. Max Purcell who impressed in the lead up tournaments was knocked out in a 4 set match against fellow Australian O’Connell. American Mmoh who is not afraid to cause an upset knocked out the 11th seed and last years semi-finalist, Khachanov, in straight sets. Baez conjured up an impressive win as he beat 27th seed, Coric, 7-5; 7-5; 6-1 to book his spot in the 2nd round. Etcheverry the 30th seed, battled hard in his win against Virtanen. He ended up winning 10-5 in the final set super-tiebreak. Dimitrov managed an unbelievable win as he defeated Molcan in 5 sets. Dimitrov found himself down by 2 sets after losing both the sets in tiebreaks. He somehow managed to take the next 3 sets, eventually winning the 5th set 11-9 in the final set tiebreak. An amazing match from both players. Another seed to come back from 2 sets down was 17th seed, Hurkacz who found himself in that position against Huesler. The 17th seed, just like Dimitrov, found a way to prevail in 5, winning the final set impressively 6-1. Zverev, Medvedev, Norrie, Murray, Rublev, Isner, Sonego, Evans, Wawrinka, Harris, Sinner and Alcaraz all prevailed in comfortable straight set wins.

In the ladies draw, the day started off with a great match between 22nd seed, Alexandrova, and former US Open runner-up, Fernandez. The match ended up going the distance where the 22nd seed prevailed 6-4 in the final set. The big name to lose on day 2 in the ladies draw was the 7th seed, Garcia, who has been struggling with form of late. Garcia lost in straight sets to Wang Yafan. Kasatkina survived a scare as she lost the opening set 6-2 against young American Parks before finding her game and taking the next 2 sets and with it the match. 27th seed, Potapova, could not make it out of the 1st round as she lost in 3 sets to Tauson and 21st Vekic, also could not win her opening encounter against Vickery. The last upset of the day was the 12th seed, Krejcikova who like Garcia has really struggled for wins in 2023 and day 2 of the US Open was no different as she lost in straights to Bronzetti. Sabalenka, Kenin, Zheng, Pavlyuchenkova, Pliskova, Svitolina, Pegula, Martic, Keys, Jabeur, Samsonova, Bouzkova and Boulter all looked impressive in their straight sets wins on day 2.

Onto the fantasy leaderboard and amazingly we don’t have a change at the top from day 1 to day 2. ‘Fantasy Alive’ remains in the lead by 1 points over ‘Team Kickbutt’ who sits alone in 2nd place. ‘Fudgies’ make 3rd place their home for now as they are 3 points behind 2nd while 5 points ahead of 4th. In 4th however is a 4 way tie between ‘Draper’s Injuries’, ‘My Dream Team’, ‘Party in the USA’ and ‘You’ve Met Your Match’. The wooden spoon is still currently being held by ‘Talented Turtles’.

Jared

Jared matriculated in 2020 from Wynberg Boys High School in beautiful Cape Town, South Africa. His passion for tennis afforded him the opportunity of travelling to Europe. He is a quizmaster and a fantasy organiser.