US Open: Thiem crushes Nagal, Agut wins in four sets; Muguruza booted out

Images from matches played on Day 4 at the US Open at the Flushing Meadows in New York on Thursday. 

Austria’s Dominic Thiem broke a million Indian hearts as he defeated Sumit Nagal 6-3, 6-3, 6-2 to advance to the third round of the US Open.

Nagal started confidently, taking a game off Djokovic in the opening set but the seasoned Austrian could not be kept low for long as he pocketed the set and the rest of the match with consummate ease.  

Bautista Agut finds way past tricky Kecmanovic 

Eighth seed Roberto Bautista Agut got through a difficult second-round match against Serbian youngster Miomir Kecmanovic with a 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory at the US Open on Thursday.

The Spaniard squandered 14 break point opportunities but held his nerve in crucial moments to seal victory in just over 2-1/2 hours.

Kecmanovic, making his second consecutive second-round appearance at Flushing Meadows, stepped up the pressure on Bautista Agut’s serve in the second set to force an unlikely break at 5-3 and he went on to level the match.Bautista Agut looked largely untroubled over the next two sets, however, as he patiently carved out two breaks of serve to book a place in the US Open third round for the first time in three years.

World number 11 Bautista Agut has now won five of his six matches since the tour’s resumption after the COVID-19 shutdown, reaching the semi-finals at the Western & Southern Open last week where he pushed eventual champion Novak Djokovic to a final-set tiebreak.

He will next face the winner of the all-Canadian clash between Milos Raonic and Vasek Pospisil.

10th seed Muguruza upset by unranked Bulgarian

Tsvetana Pironkova, playing in her first event since 2017, claimed one of the shock upsets at the US Open on Thursday by dispatching double Grand Slam winner Garbine Muguruza 7-5, 6-3 to move into the third round at Flushing Meadows.

After three years away from the WTA Tour following the birth of her son Alexander, the unranked Bulgarian had 10th-seeded Muguruza smashing her racket and mumbling in frustration as the Spaniard’s US Open jinx continued to haunt her.

The tournament has been a stumbling block for the French Open and Wimbledon champion, who this year nearly added to her collection of major trophies when she reached the final in Australia.

In stark contrast to her success at the other slams, Muguruza has struggled to make an impact on the New York hardcourts.

She had made it past the second round once in seven previous visits to Flushing Meadows and saw her bid end there again.

 

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