A day of almost normality as part 1 of the 3rd round was played. The reason for the almost normality as it was a day where majority of the matches were won by the expected players however the big name to fall on day 5 was the 4th seed, Rybakina, who lost in 3 sets against 30th seed, Cirstea, who played a fantastic match. One of the best displays of tennis that I have watched, both were putting on a show for the night session fans. Muchova came through a tough first set tiebreak against the American, Townsend before taking the 2nd set comfortably 6-3 to book her spot in the 4th round. Swiatek continues to dish out bagels like they are going out of fashion. She notched up her 20th grand slam bagel as she defeated Juvan 6-0; 6-1. Wozniacki played an impressive strategic match as she broke down Brady who looked to be struggling with match fitness half way through the 2nd set. Wozniacki however was looking super fresh on the other side of the net and after leveling the match at 1 set all, Wozniacki was pure class in the 3rd set as she took that set 6-1. She now sets up a fantastic encounter against young American, Gauff in the 4th round after Gauff also came from a set down against Mertens to book her spot in the 4th round. Ostapenko was another player to come back from a set down on day 5 of the US Open. Ostapenko will now play Swiatek for a place in the quarterfinals. Lastly 15th seed, Bencic, who’s form was an unknown heading into the tournament is now in the 4th round as she beat Zhu in 3 sets, 7-6(1); 2-6; 6-3. She will now face Cirstea for a place in the quarterfinals.

In the mens draw, a straight sets win was hard to find on day 5. Only 9th seed Fritz who was the biggest scorer on day 5, scoring 11 fantasy points, and Gojo managed to win their 3rd round matches in straight sets. 14th seed, Paul was up against 21st seed, Davidovich Fokina. The American was playing some great tennis as he dropped just 1 game in the opening 2 sets. Davidovich Fokina regrouped and did manage to take the 3rd set however Paul was to good on the day and it was the 14th seed who will be playing in the 4th round. His opponent in the 4th round will be fellow American, Shelton after Shelton beat Karatsev in 4 sets. Shelton looks impressive especially as he dropped just 2 games combined in the 3rd and 4th sets in the match. Tiafoe looked under pressure in the 1st set against Mannarino. The Frenchman taking the opener 6-4. Tiafoe though was not fazed and took the match in 4 sets much to the delight of the US crowd. Tiafoe has always said he is determined to win a slam and right now the US Open definitely seems the most likely. How far can he go this year? Stricker backed up his upset win over Tsitsipas in the 2nd round with another 5 set win over Bonzi. Stricker will now face Fritz for a spot in the quarter-finals. The last match to finish was the match between 2 Serbians, Djere and Djokovic. Djokovic had a very very big scare on day 5 as he found himself 2 sets to love down and not playing his best tennis by any means. Luckily for Djokovic, 1 bathroom break later and he regained his focus to take the next 3 sets, dropping a combined 5 games in those 3 sets, to book his spot in the 4th round where he will face Gojo for a spot in the quarterfinals.

Onto the fantasy leaderboard and we have a change at the front again. ‘Fantasy Alive’ regains top spot and pulls a lead of 3 points over ‘Draper’s Injuries’ who drop to 2nd. Tied with them in 2nd is ‘Dropshots’ who continues to look threatening. ‘Fudgies’ continue to make 4th their home while ‘2nd’ and ‘Party in the USA’ sit in a joint 5th position.
The battle for the wooden spoon is also heating up ‘Talented Turtles’ who have been occupying that wooden spoon spot has closed the gap to jus t4 points to ‘My Dream Team 2’.

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.