Jovic is up next on Stadium 17, against Fran Jones, the only British player left in the singles, but it’s time to wrap up this blog now, on a day when Taylor Fritz, Iga Swiatek, Naomi Osaka, Amanda Anisimova, Alexandra Eala, Flavio Cobolli, Jakub Mensik and Madison Keys (just) all won, but Felix Auger-Aliassime, Lorenzo Musetti and Britain’s Harriet Dart departed. Do check the site later for a match report on De Minaur (he trails Van de Zandschulp by a break in the first set), while Coco Gauff, Alexander Zverev, Elena Rybakina and Gael Monfils are coming up in the night session. Bye!

From a break down in the second set, Andreeva is now a break up, leading 6-0, 3-2. Alexei Popyrin has followed Tristan Schoolkate out of the tournament, losing 2-6, 7-6, 7-6-2 to Chile’s Alejandro Tabilo, but there was an Australian win earlier, for Dane Sweeny against an out-of-sorts Lorenzo Musetti, and there’s still a strong chance of another, with Alex de Minaur just getting under way against the Dutchman Botic van de Zandschulp.

Zheng Qinwen has seen off Yulia Putintseva, 6-4, 2-6, 6-1, and the 2024 Olympic champion, who had to come through qualifying after elbow surgery, will play Madison Keys next. And Zheng will be followed on Court 12, after a women’s doubles match involving the top seeds Siniakova and Townsend, by … Zheng. Michael Zheng, that is, the American wildcard who takes on the lucky loser Bu Yunchaokete, who took out Rafael Jodar in round one. So this is a match of huge opportunity for both players, as they seek to reach the third round of the US Open for the first time.

And Lys then breaks for 2-0! How quickly momentum can shift, especially in women’s matches, even though I’m sure Andreeva will prove once more that she has too much much quality for the world No 98. After winning her first grand slam in June, Andreeva has had a fairly subdued summer on the hard courts, but she looked strong in the opening round, and is handed a route back into this second set when Lys serves up no less than three double faults in one game. So it’s Andreeva 6-0, 1-2.

They do make a good bagel in New York and Mirra Andreeva has served one up to the poor Eva Lys on Stadium 17. But the biggest cheer of the match comes when Lys finally gets on the board in the opening game of the second set. So Andreeva, the French Open champion, leads the German 6-0, 0-1.

Schoolkate smacks away possibly his best shot of the day – it’s not only Cobolli who’s making the highlights reel – but the fine forehand is in vain, as Cobolli sends down a second-serve ace to hold for 5-5. It leaves Cobolli potentially two games from victory, at 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, 5-5, and he’s two points from breaking when Schoolkate’s shot skids just wide for 15-30. Fine margins. Cobolli conjures up an improbable forehand winner – his 40th winner of the day – and it’s 15-40, two break points! And he takes the first with a perfect lob! The fifth seed will serve for the match at 6-5.

Speaking of Osaka, here’s Tumaini’s take on her uneven win:

For a second consecutive match at the US Open, Naomi Osaka appeared to be cruising. Everything was in hand as the two-time champion established a set and a break lead in her round two match against Katerina Siniakova, an uneventful return to the third round beckoning.

Instead of carrying that great momentum forward until the end, though, Osaka was overcome by tension in the final stages of second set and she soon found herself in a decider. It took a significant amount of resilience and restraint for her to reset and find a way through to the third round with a comprehensive final set to win 6-2, 5-7, 6-1.

Before the North American hard-court swing, a period that yielded US Open titles in 2018 and 2020, Osaka finally looked like a grand slam contender again. After years of struggling through the clay- and grass-court seasons, seemingly just waiting for the hard courts to return, this year Osaka produced career-best showings on those surfaces to the fourth round at the French Open and quarter-finals at Wimbledon.

Her level on grass at Wimbledon, a surface she has toiled on for much of her career, was particularly impressive as she defeated the world No 1, Aryna Sabalenka, in round four. Osaka ran out of steam in the quarter-finals, fatigue seeping in after she reached the Bad Homburg final a week earlier, but it was some of the best tennis she had played since winning her last grand slam title at the Australian Open in 2021. She headed back to North America full of confidence.

Elevated expectations can naturally lead to greater pressure and Osaka’s first two wins in New York this year are perhaps a reflection of the additional weight on her shoulders. In her 7-6 (6), 7-6 (3) first-round win over Anastasia Zakharova, a nervous Osaka squandered a break in both sets before barely dragging herself over the line in two tie-breaks. This time her nerves cost her a set. The most important thing about the early stages of the grand slam tournaments for the top players, though, is simply finding a way to win and offering themselves an opportunity to unleash their top form in later rounds.

The full match report is here:

The women’s seeds are faring better, despite scares for Naomi Osaka and Madison Keys today:

12 Bencic
20 Chwalinska
27 Krejcikova
28 Bejlek
30 Ostapenko

Musetti’s exit, after Felix Auger-Aliassime’s earlier today, means this is the updated list of beaten men’s seeds:

3 Auger-Aliassime
4 Djokovic
10 Fils
12 Jodar
13 Musetti
16 Nakashima
23 Rublev
29 Norrie
30 Arnaldi

Musetti, grimacing and sitting on the advertising boards between points, is now 4-2 down in the fourth set, and he’s bent over double when he’s taken to deuce on his serve. Does he have anything left? It seems not, because he surrenders the break with a tired forehand, meaning Sweeny will serve for the biggest win of his career at 3-6, 6-1, 6-2, 5-2 … just as Cobolli finishes the third set with a flourish, serving it out to love, for a 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 lead.

Cobolli has the third set in his sights, leading Schoolkate 3-6, 6-3, 5-3, and the French Open runner-up is applying the pressure on Schoolkate’s serve at 0-15. Schoolkate decides to take matters into his own hands by coming to the net, but it doesn’t pay off. But the Australian comes back for 30-all and holds his nerve to close out the game from there. And all of this comes after this …

Still to come today: the 22-year-old American wildcard Michael Zheng, the two-time NCAA champion who recently graduated from nearby Columbia University – not that he was at his graduation ceremony in May, because he was busy qualifying for the French Open, after a remarkable rise in the senior ranks. Bryan wrote this yesterday after Zheng’s first-round win:

Michael Zheng spent years making the long trek from northern New Jersey, first by bus across the Hudson River to the Port Authority bus terminal and then nearly the full length of the No 7 subway line, all for the opportunity to train at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. On a rainswept Wednesday afternoon in Queens, the destination was the same but the purpose had changed entirely.

The 22-year-old American wildcard and two-time NCAA champion from nearby Columbia University brushed aside Hungary’s Fabian Marozsan 6-4, 6-4, 6-2 to win his rain-delayed US Open debut, providing one of the more unlikely highlights on a busy day for the home contingent in New York.

Playing before a vocal crowd of his college teammates and alumni who splashed the intimate confines of Court 10 with blue and white, Zheng needed only 1hr 51min to dispatch of the world No 63, breaking five times and dropping serve only once. He hit nearly twice as many winners (33) as unforced errors (17) and was especially ruthless on his first serve, winning all but three of 39 points (92.3%) over three sets.

“It just felt like a college tennis match, really,” Zheng said. “My teammates came out. They had the ‘Let’s go, Michael’ chants, and I’m not sure my opponent was ready for it.”

He added: “This is a place I grew up training. It was one of the first places that I kind of called home base, actually, the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. So it’s really special to get that first main-draw win here and in front of my family, friends and teammates as well.”

Long before Wednesday’s win, Zheng was a 10-year-old making the roughly two-hour commute from his home in Montville, New Jersey, several times a week to cut his teeth at the national center. His mother would collect him from school and drop him at a nearby bus stop, leaving him to travel alone through Manhattan into Queens to practice on the blue courts in the shadows of Arthur Ashe and Louis Armstrong stadiums.

You can read the rest here:

But no sooner does Musetti break than he is broken, and it leaves Sweeny serving for the set at 5-2, at which point my wifi gives up, perhaps out of sympathy for the out-of-sorts Italian. The connection dips back in, just as Musetti bashes a backhand well wide on set point, and by the time it rouses itself into action again, Musetti is already a break down in the fourth set, trailing 3-6, 6-1, 6-2, 2-0. Sweeny is closing in on his first third-round appearance at a major.

Musetti digs deep to get one of the breaks back for 2-4. Meanwhile Jakub Mensik, the mixed doubles champion alongside his fellow Czech Karolina Muchova last week, who had a breakout run to the French Open semi-finals this summer and has long been seen as a talent who could one day challenge Alcaraz and Sinner, is 6-3, 3-6, 6-2 up on Austria’s Jurij Rodionov. And Zheng Qinwen, the reigning Olympic champion, leads Yulia Putintseva 6-4.

In the other Italy v Australia match, Cobolli has levelled against Schoolkate, winning the second set 6-3, while a third Australian, Alexei Popyrin, the conqueror of Grigor Dimitrov in the first round, is tied at one set all, 6-2, 6-7, against Chile’s Alejandro Tabilo.

Ach. Musetti has had so many problems with injuries this year, and he’s ailing against Sweeny, trailing 3-1 in the third set, having lost the second 6-1 and winning the first 6-3. He can’t catch a break. It’s not clear if it’s another injury, or illness, but he’s in danger of going a double break down at 30-40 on his serve. He coughs up a double fault and Sweeny leads 3-6, 6-1, 4-1.

So what is Eala most happy with about the win? “I think my patience and consistency of my focus. I think that was the key to winning the match,” the 2022 US Open junior champion says, before telling the crowd how proud she is to represent the Philippines and how she tries “to live life with positivity and happiness”. She really does speak with maturity beyond her years. When asked about her next opponent, she replies: “Who I play in the next round is out of my control but both are great friends of mine. All I can do is wish them a great match.”

Eala is edging closer to the finish line, at 6-1, 4-3 and 40-0 on serve, but she may not get there before Fritz, who’s close to putting Bellucci out of his misery at 6-0, 6-1, 5-1, with Bellucci serving at 15-30.

Some more highlights for you:

There’s been some turnaround between Musetti and Sweeny, with Sweeny, the Australian wildcard, quite literally flying through the second set, taking it 6-1 and pulling off his best impression of Boris Becker along the way:

So it’s Musetti 6-3, 1-6 Sweeny.

We’re hearing that Venus and Serena Williams’s first-round doubles match will take place, as expected, in the night session on Arthur Ashe tomorrow, with Ben Shelton v Denis Shapovalov to follow. Carlos Alcaraz and Aryna Sabalenka play in the day session, as do Jessica Pegula, Daniil Medvedev, Karolina Muchova, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Alexander Bublik, Jasmine Paolini, Marta Kostyuk and the Wimbledon champion Linda Noskova – with Frances Tiafoe and Elina Svitolina in the night session on Louis Armstrong.

It’s Italy v Australia on Stadium 17 and Grandstand: Musetti has taken the first set against Sweeny, 6-3, but Musetti’s good friend Flavio Cobolli has started slowly and trails Tristan Schoolkate 4-2 in the opener. That will feel like nothing to Cobolli, though, given he did something he’d never done before in his career to reach this second round, coming from two sets to love down to win on Tuesday.

Fritz, meanwhile, is absolutely flying, now 6-0, 6-1 ahead against Bellucci, with Argentina’s 24th seed Francisco Cerundolo waiting in round three. This summer’s Queen’s champion has just survived a near four-hour, five-set encounter against the German veteran Jan-Lennard Struff, winning 5-7, 7-5, 4-6, 6-2, 6-3.

15-0, 30-0, 40-0, game and first set Eala 6-1. She’s locked in and looking in exceptionally good form. Having won the Washington DC title in the build-up to the US Open, could she mount a serious challenge this fortnight, having never previously been beyond the last 16 of a slam? It’s possible – though I’d argue that it’s probably too soon for the 21-year-old to put seven wins together. Imagine if/when that day comes though, she’ll be rivalling Manny Pacquiao’s rarefied status in the Philippines …

Thanks Daniel. Right, having fuelled up on a $40 lobster roll and some $100 caviar-flecked chicken nuggets some slightly bland chicken and salad, I’m ready for the rest of the day session. Eala concedes her first break but still leads 4-1, and is pushing to restore her double break at 15-40 on Oliynykova’s serve. A backhand return – which is nearly as big as all the talk about the Filipino’s fame and fans – secures it. Eala’s cruising at 5-1.

Eala is hitting it beautifully with power and slice, breaking Oliynykova a second time to lead 4-0, and already it’s hard not to look forward to her potential third-round match with Iva Jovic as a potential banger. Anyhow, that’s for the future; for the now, I’m off as Katy is here to hang for the next bit. Ta-ra.

Our men’s seeds are moving, Mensik up 5-2 on Rodionov, Musetti up 5-3 on Sweeny, and Ceriundolo leading Struff 5-3 in the fifth.

Eala, though, has started well, holding then breaking for 2-0. I’ve really enjoyed her arrival on to the scene, and I think she has the ability to beat good players, but if she can’t put some meat on to her serve, she’s already quite close to her ceiling. Oh, and Bellucci holds to win his first game; he trails Fritz 0-6 1-1.

Wikipedia on Oliynykova:

Oliynykova was born and raised in Kyiv. At the age of eight, she and her family moved to Odesa. In 2011, when Oliynykova was 10 years old, she and her family fled to Croatia after her father publicly criticized the presidency of Viktor Yanukovych. Her family would have been able to return to Ukraine after the Revolution of Dignity in 2014, which saw the removal of Yanukovych from office; they stayed in Croatia, however, where she obtained Croatian citizenship

Fritz secures a bagel to lead Bellucci 6-0; Mensik leads Rodionov 3-2 on serve; Musetti and Sweeny are level at 3-32 in the first; and Eala has just started against Oliynykova on Armstrong.

Anismiova is generous to Tagger, saying she expected a tough challenge from someone who played well and became “a crazy woman” in the second set. But she stayed composed, played some of her best tennis, and had fun. She loves playing in New York and has great memories, having won the juniors at 16; she’s delighted to be playing in another match.

On Ashe, Fritz is all over Bellucci, up 5-0 in the first; Tagger holds for 1-5, but Anisimova is now serving for an excellent match.

Now Anisimova holds for 5-0 and, like Osaka and Keys, has grown as the match has intensified. She’s seeded to meet Adreeva in round four, a match that, if it happens, should be an absolute jazzer.

Anisimova finally breaks Tagger, breaking the back of the match in the process to lead 4-0 in the third. She’s been stretched today and will be the stronger for it, while this isn’t the last we’ll see of the young Austrian.

Back with Anisimova, at 3-0 in the third she has a sixth break point, the game having gone on for over nine minutes, the standard excellent. And again, Tagger saves it, but when she raises an advantage of her own, a brutal forehand return confiscates it.

Auger-Alissime isn’t able to compete properly; I think he’s got a foot injury but it’s not obvious. He manages to hold for 2-5 in the third, but Khachanov will surely put him out of his misery after change of ends.

Felix gets on the board in set four, but Khachanov holds comfortably for 5-1 to go a game away; Anisimova leads Tagger, just 18 and considered a proper talent, 3-0 in the third.

On Ashe, Fritz and Belluci are away; on Armstrong, Khachanov leads Auger-Aliassime 2-1 4-0, so I guess we’ll check out the end of that, and it’s coming quickly, before moving from latter to former.

Phew! Back with Anisimova, she’s righted herself to break Taagger for as 2-0 lead in the third.

Sky are seriously determined, replacing that banger with Dart down match point to Bouzkova…

Oooh yeah, a mahoosive forehand, clobbered down the backhand line, makes 6-5 and a mini-break, then another, this time on serve, gives 7-5; Oor Maddy’s power is an absolute delight, igniting when she needs it most. And, very quickly, she makes 9-5 and four match points, having saved five; Bondar will, I’m afraid to say, take this one to the grave.

“Let’s go Keys, let’s go Keys,” chant people who may never have been to live sport before, the woman herself crunching a forehand return for a clean winner that retrieves a mini-break for 3-4 … before sending down a double. It is, though, the first to 10, so there’s time, and a pair of forehand winners bring us level at 5-5. This is, I think, the best match I’ve seen this week, and I’ve not a clue who’s going to win it.

Early mini-break for Keys, immediately retrieved by Bondar for 2-2, and I’m switching off Felix, who’s just seen Khachanov consolidate his break, for Anisimova, who’s just lost the second set to Tagger.

Bondar hauls herself to 30-15 and from there, holds to secure a match tiebreak; biggup for that, because she was in a way. Meantime, up break point, Khachanov races in to retrieve a drop, surprising Felix with a lob, which he could probably play but leaves, it drops in, and the momentum of this match feels inexorable now, the no 3 seed down 1-2 0-1.

With Osaka over, I’m back with Khachanov, who’s taken the third set 6-2 to lead Auger-Aliassime 2-1. There’d be no shame for the no 3 seed in losing to so good an opponent, but it’s matches like this that make you think he can’t get much better than he is, his second serve and backhand not loads better than they were five years ago.

The Court 11 classic is nearly over, Bouzkova now leading Dart 6-2 4-o; Keys holds to love for 6-5 in the third, and Bondaer, having twice failed to serve out the match, must now do so to stop in it.

Meantime, Keys makes 0-30, Bondar goes long on the forehand, and must now face three break-back points! This is some set (of tennis) and when Bondar nets a backhand, we’re level at r5-5 in the decider! Oor Maddy has found her forehand under pressure, while Bondar has, I’m afraid to say, let the occasion get big on her.

Back with Osaka, she’s broken Siniakova again and is now serving for the match at 5-1 in the third.

A big forehand from Bondar helps her to 15-40 and two match points, so Keys unloads with forehands of her own, clubbing one off the frame for a winner, then hammering another, inside-out, for deuce. Goodness me, she’s living dangerously here, but it’s great to see her attacking the ball when she might’ve become sensitive … then, up advantage, she sends down a double. Oh, and then she can’t move quickly enough when a forehand is directed at her body … but facing another match point, she again unleashes on the forehand, then follows it up with an ace. This is some gear, is this, and a service winner takes Keys through another game, but Bondar will shortly serve for the match for the second time. Last time she tried, she donated two doubles, which is to say she’ll be feeling it.

Oor Maddy isn’t gone yet, breaking Bondar to trail 3-5 in the third. I’ve switched off the Felix v Khachanov match to get them on, just in time to see Keys make a mess of a shoulder-high volley and go down 0-30, now wo points from defeat.

Righto, Siniakova nails a pair of returns in making her way to 15-40, but a pair of fine points from Osaka make deuce, forehand to the fore, whereupon her serve takes over and she she secures a vital hold for 4-1 in the third. She’s made hard work of it, but she’s nearly there.

Siniakova holds to get on the board in set three, but at 1-3 is running out of chances to break back. Oh, and Keys now trails 5-2 in the third, Bondar serving for the match, while Bouzkova has taken the first set against Dary 6-2, Sky should stick it on News and Movies, I reckon.

Felix is struggling, swatting a backhand into the net to go down 0-40 on serve; Khachanov isn’t ripping winners or anything, he’s just keeping the points going, and he seals the double break to love, leading 4-1 in the third after the first two sets were shared.

Oor Maddy is in trouble, now down a break to Bondar at 4-2 in the third. She didn’t look great against Korneeva in round one, and doesn’t have long to save herself. Meantime, Osaka plays a tremendous point at 30-all as she seeks to consolidate, retrieving a monster forehand, disbursing a couple of her own, and eventually securing the rally with a low volley – not words we write of her often. And from there, she takes the hold, now up 3-0 in the third.

Yup, Osaka is back, making 30-40 then, having benefitted from a net cord, delivering a gorgeous half-volleyed wrong-footing lob from the back. She leads 2-0 in the third but, as we know, is capable of tightening as she nears the finish line.

Trouble for Felix, who’s been broken at the start of set three. And Khachanov consolidates too, so leads 2-0; can Auger-Aliassime get him to the net, where his hard hands might be a problem?

Having left court between sets, Osaka returns and holds comfortably, her first game won in five. She’s hitting it cleanly again now, but Siniakova, allowed into the match, is playing with confidence.

Sky have just switched Khachanov and Auger-Aliassime off their second channel in favour of Bouzkova v Dart, which I find amazing. Surely people would rather watch the former, featuring two players of renown, than one who happens to be British? I’d have thought the audience was largely tennis fans, not patriots, but here we are.

Harriet Dart has made a slow start against Marie Bouzkova and trails 1-3 in the first, while Keys and Bondar are level at 2-2 in the decider. Oh and Amanda Anisimova, my pick for the title, has taken the first set against Lilli Tagger 6-3.

What a turnaround on Ashe! Siniakova breaks Osaka and, serving for the set, holds to 30! That’s four games in row for the Czech, and what looked a breeze is now a ruckus.

I’m really enjoying the match on Armstrong, in which Khachanov has just levelled at one set apiece against Auger-Aliassime. This is a really big tournament for the no 3 seed, a chance to change his career, really, and he’s been showing signs of improvement in recent times. But Khachanov is a proper test and, so far, there’s not much between them.

Thanks Katy. Every time I think class, Osaka’s back and ready to challenge, she isn’t. This match is in the balance now and, though I still think she’ll find a way to win here, the chances of a run to the final seem remote at this point.

I’m off for a break, so Daniel is here to take you through the denouement …

No, is the short answer. This is a messy end to the second set, whichever way it goes. Though Osaka does have the comfort of knowing that if she breaks here, the match will be hers. Osaka gets to 30-all when Siniakova smacks long, her 26th unforced error of the day, but the Czech balances that out with a fine backhand winner for 40-30. And another for game! The run of breaks is broken, and from 6-2, 5-3, Osaka has been hauled back to 5-5.

Khachanov’s 3-0 lead in the second set has turned into 4-2. Anisimova has been caught out cold against the 18-year-old Tagger, being broken in the opening game, while Keys has levelled against Bondar after taking the second set 6-4.

And the British qualifier Harriet Dart has just hit the opening ball against Marie Bouzkova, another Czech from the country’s fine production line … just as Bouzkova’s compatriot Siniakova is broken amid a flurry of errors. Osaka will serve for the match at 6-2, 5-3 … but after three successive breaks, can she hold?

Osaka recovers to deuce, but is soon facing another break point, after a wobbly 79mph second serve. Osaka’s struggling with her ball toss here, and after an aborted serve, she does land one, but she then errs with her backhand and Siniakova secures the break back. It’s Osaka 6-2, 4-3.

Osaka has break points at 15-40 against an increasingly irate Siniakova. The Czech calms herself down enough to save the first with a forehand winner, but Osaka, the ultimate hard court and baseline specialist, is a force from the back of the court on the second, and she secures the break. At 6-2, 4-2, Osaka is looking far more assured than she did in the first round … so of course she then slides break point down. Call that the commentator’s curse.

A reversal of the first set on Louis Armstrong, where Khachanov leads 3-0 in the second, having trailed by that score in the opener. So it’s Auger-Aliassime 7-6, 0-3 Khachanov. Osaka now leads Siniakova 6-2, 3-2 on serve, Keys is 3-3 in the second set against Bondar, having lost the first 7-5, and Swiatek’s victory means that Amanda Anisimova, last year’s runner-up to Aryna Sabalenka, is stepping on to court with the Austrian teenager and US Open debutant Lilli Tagger.

Swiatek is smiley and relaxed in the on-court interview, and she’s even got time to talk about the logistical headache of travelling on tour with all of her Lego sets. “I am here with a better feeling probably than any other grand slam this year,” she declares, rather ominously for everyone else.

Nevermind Osaka’s basketball-inspired outfit, Auger-Aliassime is slam dunking in the style of Pete Sampras with an overhead smash for 5-4 in the tie-break, and despite a big ace down the T from Khachanov, AA accelerates to set point with a HUGE cross-court forehand winner. What timing, not only with the shot but also given the stage they’re at in the tie-break. And AA secures the first set when Khachanov crunches his attempted pass long and wide! Just as Osaka breaks Siniakova to take a 6-2 lead on Arthur Ashe.

4-1 becomes 5-2 for Osaka. Keys has conceded the first set, 7-5, to Bondar, while Auger-Aliassime, having led 3-0 and then lost four consecutive games, is into a first-set tie-break against Khachanov.

Swiatek strikes right at the start of the second set, breaking for 1-0 as she flattens a second serve before smoking a forehand, and she’s sniffing another break at 3-1 and deuce. And a netted backhand from Podoroska followed by an overcooked forehand give Swiatek the luxury of a double break. At 6-3, 4-1 she’s on course to become the day’s first single winner.

It feels rather odd saying this, given that Osaka is a two-time former US Open champion, but she’s something of a wildcard contender this fortnight, having not won a title since 2021. But over the past year she’s been building momentum, after returning from her maternity leave in 2024, and there were plenty of green shoots on the grass at Wimbledon, where she beat Aryna Sabalenka en route to the quarter-finals. And Osaka has started strongly today, leading Siniakova 3-1 and serving at 40-15. Make that game, as the 13th seed’s pace is too much for the Czech to handle.

Swiatek is serving for the first set at 5-3. And on her second set point, at her advantage, she takes it, when Podoroska prods a return wide. After starting with three holds to love, the set got closer, but the eighth seed found a way through and she’s skipping to the back of the court to start the second set. She looks up for this – and most importantly, more confident than she has done for so much of this year.

Auger-Aliassime is broken back, so from 3-0 it’s now 3-3. And Keys, the 2017 runner-up and last year’s Australian Open champion, is a break down, 4-3, against Bondar. Not that I’m really concentrating on those two matches, because I’m waiting for Osaka’s big entrance. And right on cue, here she comes, with the day version of the Allen Iverson-inspired basketball-themed outfit she wore on Tuesday night, completing her own calendar slam of sorts after her jellyfish look at the Australian Open, her Eiffel Tower dress at the French Open and her Kill Bill-inspired Japanese kimono at Wimbledon. Her play wasn’t quite as eye-catching as her outfit in the first round, so she’ll be hoping for an improved performance against Katerina Siniakova, the doubles world No 1.

It’s a similar story for Swiatek, who leads Podoroska 4-1. Make that 5-2. With her confidence seemingly restored after her title success in Toronto, having struggled badly with nerves this year, this could turn into a demolition job of old for the 2022 champion against an Argentinian player who, because of injury, has won only one grand slam match in more than two years.

The huge-hitting Khachanov, a former US Open semi-finalist himself, isn’t a straightforward second-round draw, though the 30-year-old Russian isn’t perhaps quite the force he once was, and he concedes an early break when he overhits a forehand at AA’s advantage. AA then backs up the break for 3-0; it’s been a flawless start from him.

Auger-Aliassime starts as he means to go on, with an opening hold to love. The Canadian is in a slightly strange position at this tournament: he’s at a career-high grand slam seeding of No 3 and world ranking of No 4, but he’s not really being loudly talked about in the title conversation. Twice a grand slam semi-finalist, both times at the US Open, including last year, he still needs to prove he’s got a final gear – especially after he failed to make the most of the wide-open draws at the French Open and Wimbledon this summer. He’s happier on a hard court, though, and this is by far his most successful slam.

And if you need to play catch-up with any of yesterday’s action, you can do so here:

The players are warming up on all the courts except Arthur Ashe, and even the sun has decided to make an appearance after a couple of days in hiding. There are some big names among the early runners and riders: Felix Auger-Aliassime (3) v Karen Khachanov, Iga Swiatek (8) v Nadia Podoroska and Madison Keys (22) v Anna Bondar.