US Open 2022 Day 6: Rafael Nadal, Iga Swiatek Carlos Alcaraz all cruise while Andrey Rublev wins a battle
The third round of the US Open rolled onward in the wake of Serena Williams' loss Friday night.
A star-studded Saturday includes major matches between highly-seeded players in both the men's and women's tournaments. No. 7 Caleb Norrie versus No. 28 Holger Rune, No. 19 Denis Shapovalov versus No. 9 Andrey Rublev and No. 15 Marin Čilić versus No. 20 Dan Evans highlight some early men's matches, while No. 9 Garbiñe Muguruza takes on No. 21 Petra Kvitová and No. 13 Belinda Bencic plays No. 22 Karolína Plíšková on the women's side.
The heavy hitters come a little later with top-seeded Iga Świątek taking on American Lauren Davis in the women's bracket and No. 2 Rafael Nadal battles Frenchman Richard Gasquet on Saturday night.
Follow along with Yahoo Sports as we recap the biggest moments from the fifth day of the U.S Open.
Rafael Nadal moves to 18-0 against Richard Gasquet
By all reports, Rafael Nadal and Richard Gasquet are very good friends, which speaks to a sort of grace on both their parts given how their on-court relationship.
The Spaniard defeated the Frenchman 6-0, 6-1, 7-5 to advance to the men's singles fourth round and improve his record against Gasquet to 18-0. Better luck next time, Richard.
Nadal will face Frances Tiafoe on Monday.
Iga Swiatek surges past Lauren Davis
Iga Swiatek, the overwhelming favorite on the women's singles side, again looked the part in the third round, defeating American Lauren Davis 6-3, 6-4. That included five straight games won to end the match.
Iga Swiatek is into the second week of the #USOpen in back-to-back years! pic.twitter.com/vrGdnZyS0M
— US Open Tennis (@usopen) September 4, 2022
Swiatek, the world No. 1 and top seed of the tournament, needs one more win to tie her best finish in Flushing Meadows, but she'll obviously be looking for much, much more.
Carlos Alcaraz cruises to fourth round
One of the tournament favorites sure is looking the part.
The third-seeded Carlos Alcaraz advanced to the fourth round with a 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 win over Jenson Brooksby. The 19-year-old Spaniard was dominant across the board, hitting eight aces, winning seven of 11 break points and posting 46 winners to Brooksby's 10.
Alcaraz has yet to drop a set this tournament, and is one win away from matching his quarterfinals finish in his star turn from last year's US Open.
Frances Tiafoe rolls through Diego Schwartzmann
The highest-seeded American left in the men's singles draw had little trouble reaching the fourth round.
Frances Tiafoe, seeded 22nd, defeated the 14th-seeded Diego Schwartzmann 7-6, 6-4, 6-4 to reach his third-straight fourth round of the US Open. We'll see if he can reach his first career quarterfinals.
Andrey Rublev survives fifth-set tiebreaker vs. Denis Shapovalov
The Grandstand saw a five-set battle between Andrey Rublev, the ninth seed, and Denis Shapovalov, the 19th seed, with the Russian winning 6-4, 2-6, 6-7, 6-4, 7-6.
After a 10-7 win in the fifth-set tiebreaker, all Rublev could do was collapse.
One to remember in Grandstand!
Andrey Rublev is into Round 4. pic.twitter.com/Py8FVPyOHk— US Open Tennis (@usopen) September 3, 2022
Rublev will face Cameron Norrie (see below) in the fourth round.
Cameron Norrie defeats Holger Rune
Seventh-seeded Englishman Cameron Norrie easily took down No. 28 Holger Rune of Denmark, 7-5, 6-4, 6-1. Norrie and Rune battled in the first set to 5-5 before Norrie took the set. The Englishman rolled out to a 4-1 lead in the second send before winning it too and then cruised to the match-sealing third set.
From the Guardian:
“Playing Holger isn’t easy, he can go through patches where he’s playing pretty passively and then he goes through and hits very aggresively. You have to be ready for anything. He has great hands and defends really well at time, so for me I stayed calmer than he did at big moments in the match.
“I stayed though in the first set and then again in the second. My goal today was to get to two hours and then we start the match from there.
“Then when we hit two hours I broke to go up 2-1 in the third. The he started to die there and I don’t know what’s going on with him.”
Petra Kvitová upsets Garbiñe Muguruza
Our first surprise of the day came when 21st-seeded Petra Kvitová of Czechia defeated ninth-seeded Garbiñe Muguruza of Spain, 5-7, 6-3, 7(12)-6(10). This is the 13th time Kvitová made the fourth round at the U.S Open since 2008. Kvitová said after the match she was inspired by Serena Williams' inspiring performance the night before in her loss to Ajla Tomljanovic.
"I watched Serena last night and it was amazing how she saved all those match points," Kvitová said. "So I tried to do the same."
Jessica Pegula beats Yue Yuan
Aside from a wild second set, No. 8 Jessica Pegula of the United States cruised a win over Yue Yuan of China, 6-2, 6(6)-7(8), 6-1. The American advanced to the fourth round of a Grand Slam for the third time this year with the win.
