US Open 2022 Day 3: Serena Williams wins again, women's No. 2 and 3 seeds fall

Day 3 of the 2022 US Open saw another thrilling win for Serena Williams as she kept her final US Open alive. Nothing matches the drama of Serena's story, but there was plenty more noteworthy action with a berth in the third round at stake.

Keep it here for all the news and match updates from Day 3 of the US Open.

Serena Williams keeps swan song dream alive against No. 2 Anett Kontaveit

Once again, tonight is not the night for Serena Williams' farewell.

After eliminating World No. 80 Danka Kovinic in Monday's opening round, Williams faced a much sterner test on Wednesday against No. 2 Anett Kontaveit in what's expected to be her final US Open and professional tournament. The 23-time Grand Slam champion aced it.

Williams ground out a first-set tiebreak win, was thoroughly beaten in the second, then held on in the third for a 7-6 (7-4), 2-6, 6-2 victory over the world's second-ranked player. If Monday was a celebration of Serena, Wednesday marked the moment a US Open swan-song run felt possible.

After the win, Williams soaked up the love from the Arthur Ashe Stadium crowd that included a beaming Tiger Woods.

The first set was a taut contest, with neither player relinquishing a break through the first eight games. Williams struck first in the ninth to take a 5-4 lead with a chance to serve for the set. But Kontaveit struck back to force a tiebreak. Williams then did what she does best, scoring consecutive aces with a 5-4 lead to secure the 7-4 tiebreak and the set.

Kontaveit would not be fazed. She broke Williams to open the second set, held her first serve, then broke Williams again to take a 3-0 lead en route to a runaway win in the second set.

But Williams struck first with a break and a hold to take a 2-0 lead in the decisive set. The players then traded breaks as Williams took a 3-1 lead. She never relinquished her advantage from there as she secured the 6-2 win in the final set.

Up next in singles, she faces a Friday third-round match against Australia's Ajla Tomljanovic, the world's 46th-ranked player. First, she'll play a doubles match with her sister Venus on Thursday against the against the Czech Republic's Linda Noskova and Lucie Hradecka.

No. 1 seed Daniil Medvedev advances in straight sets

While the women's No. 2 seed met an early exit on Wednesday, the men's top seed advanced with relative ease. No. 1 seed Daniil Medvedev defeated France's Arthur Rinderknech in a late-night match, 6-2, 7-5, 6-3. Rinderknech is ranked 58th in the world.

Fans who remained at Arthur Ashe Stadium after Williams' win saw another elite player at the top of his game. Rinderknech mounted a challenge in the second set, but Medvedev dominated the third to set up a third-round matchup with China's Wu Yibing.

The reigning US Open champion is seeking his first Grand Slam win in 2022. Medvedev lost in the Australian Open final to Rafael Nadal and in the French Open's fourth round to Marin Cilic. He was barred from Wimbledon as part of a blanket ban from the All-England Club on Russian and Belarusian players in response to the war on Ukraine.

Coco Gauff on to Round 3 after topping Elena-Gabriela Ruse

Coco Gauff appeared en route for a three setter on Tuesday as Romania's Elena-Gabriela Ruse served for set point in the second set of their second-round matchup, leading 5-4. But Gauff fought off two set points and broke her serve when Ruse double-faulted on break point.

The set then went to a tiebreak at 6-6 after both players held. Gauff took a 6-4 lead in the first-to-7 tiebreak when Ruse hit a forehand into the net to secure victory for Gauff, 6-2, 7-6 (7-4).

Gauff, seeded 12th, advances to face fellow American and No. 20 seed Madison Keys in the third round. There the 18-year-old will seek her deepest run at the US Open after previously advancing to the third round in 2019.

American Madison Keys tops Camila Giorgi in 3rd-set tiebreak

Madison Keys is moving on. The 20th-seeded American won her first set on Wednesday against Italy's Camila Giorgi, then closed out a third-set tiebreak to secure a 6-4, 5-7, 7-6 (10-7) win to advance to the third round of the US Open.

The 2017 US Open finalist will take on Gauff on Friday in an all-American third-round matchup.

Nick Kyrgios complains about weed smell, penalized for spitting, wins

The 23rd-seeded Nick Kyrgios is onto the third round after defeating Benjamin Bonzi 7-6, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, and it wouldn't be a Nick Kyrgios win without some extracurricular activities.

In the second set, Krygios complained to the chair umpire of a marijuana smell bothering him while on the court, resulting in a warning for the crowd. An ESPN reporter on the scene confirmed there was indeed a smell. One set later, Kyrgios was issued a code of conduct violation for spitting toward his box.

While Kyrgios was broken and lost the third set after the spitting violation, he held on thanks to his dominant serve, hitting 30 aces and winning 74 percent of his first serve points.

Maria Sakkari upset in 2nd round

Maria Sakkari broke out in 2021 by reaching two Grand Slam semifinals. There was no repeat performance in 2022.

The No. 3 seed of the women's singles draw was upset 3-6, 7-5, 7-5 in the second round by the unseeded Wang Xiyu at Louis Armstrong Stadium, which has been displaying a penchant for upsets so far this tournament.

Jabeur rallies to win in straight sets

At one point in her second-round match, the fifth-seed Jabeur out of Tunisia trailed American Elizabeth Mandlik 3-1. But Jabeur roared back to 5-5 before taking the first set and then crushing Mandlik in the second, 6-2, to take the match. After a shaky start, the 2022 Wimbledon runner-up looks like she's hitting her stride.

Rogers takes down Kužmová

Shelby Roger, the 31st-seeded American, defeated Viktória Kužmová of Slovakia in straight sets, 7-5, 6-1. She'll take on Jabeur in the third round.

Other notable results:

• Britain's Jack Draper scored a straight-sets upset of Canadian No. 6 seed Felix Auger-Aliassime, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4. He advances to face No. 27 seed Karen Khachanov of Russia in the third round.

• Fifth-seeded Casper Ruud dropped a set to the unseeded Tim van Rijthoven before regaining his footing for a 6-7, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 win. He'll face the American 29th seed Tommy Paul next round.

• Andy Murray of England took down American Emilio Nava after dropping the first set in a 6-7, 6-3, 6-1, 6-0 victory. It's the first time Murray advanced past the second round of the U.S Open since 2016.

• Frenchman Corentin Moutet upset 21st-seeded Botic van de Zandschulp of the Netherlands, 6-4, 1-6, 6-2, 6-4.

• The veteran American John Isner has pulled out of the tournament with a wrist injury, the tournament announced.

• 29th-seeded American Alison Riske-Armitraj won a marathon 6-4, 6-7, 7-6 match against Camilo Osorio to advance to face Wang in the next round.

• 12th-seeded Pablo Carreño Busta of Spain rallied from a first-set loss to beat unseeded Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan, 5-6, 6-4, 6-3, 7(7)-6(5).