Eighth-seeded Ben Shelton delivered 44 winners on Wednesday while notching a 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (3), 7-5 victory over Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz to advance to the third round of the U.S. Open in New York.
Shelton was pushed as Hurkacz won the second set before the American pulled through in a third-set tiebreaker en route to the victory under the roof at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
“I am super happy with the way the match went,” Shelton said on-court. “It was a battle until the end and I thought Hubi played outstanding today. It was really tough to deal with everything he was throwing at me and if I was commentating, I would talk about how loud this crowd was from start to finish.”
Hurkacz had a 14-6 edge in aces and hit 47 winners to 43 unforced errors. He saved 8 of 11 break points but fell to 0-7 all time in U.S. Open second-round matches.
Shelton committed 35 unforced errors and saved 5 of 7 break points in a match that lasted nearly 3 1/2 hours.
It marks the fourth straight year in which Shelton has advanced to the third round. He was a semifinalist in 2023.
Shelton will face the winner of Wednesday’s match between Canada’s Denis Shapovalov and France’s Luca Van Assche in the third round.
Among Wednesday’s other matches, No. 7 Daniil Medvedev of Russia sailed to a 6-1, 6-3, 7-5 victory over American Sebastian Gorzny.
Medvedev had a 14-3 edge in aces and won 86.8% of his first-serve points (46 of 53).
“I felt like the first two sets, he was probably not playing the best tennis of his life probably,” Medvedev said of Gorzny. “… The third set was much more competitive, really tough moments, tough points. At the same time, I feel like I had more break points and managed to put more pressure on him than he did on me.
“I managed to stay tough in important points and managed to win, so I found it pretty good.”
Medvedev next faces No. 26 Arthur Rinderknech after the Frenchman swept Spain’s Jaume Munar 7-6 (4), 6-2, 7-5.
Alex Michelsen scored a 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 triumph over No. 16 Brandon Nakashima in an All-American clash.
Michelsen had a 10-4 edge in aces while outplaying Nakashima.
“It feels great to beat a player like him,” Michelsen said of Nakashima. “He’s beaten so many good players. It’s big for my confidence. I’m going to try to take that and run with it.”
China’s Bu Yunchaokete routed No. 12 Spaniard Rafael Jodar 6-2, 6-1, 6-1. Bu never faced a break point and committed just 21 unforced errors to Jodar’s 37.
Spain’s Daniel Merida upset No. 23 Andrey Rublev of Russia 6-7 (3), 6-2, 6-4, 6-4.
No. 6 seed Alex de Minaur of Australia had few issues while rolling to a 6-2, 6-2, 6-4 victory over Italy’s Andrea Guerrieri.
He converted 28 of 34 first-serve points (82.4%) and had a 5-2 edge in aces.
–Field Level Media
