Defending Champion, Rafael Nadal, Loses In Round Two

While it was not surprising given his physical and mental form going in, it’s still a blow to see Rafael Nadal beaten. Kudos to American Mackenzie McDonald. McDonald won 6-4, 6-4, 7-5. Will the American back up his victory over Nadal? History shows that players crash and burn in the next round after a big win. Can McDonald avoid that fate? Next up for McDonald will be [31] Yoshihito Nishioka.

Embed from Getty Images

Americans Still Going Strong On Day 3

[3] Jessica Pegula battled hard in the second set; however, she came away with the 6-2, 7-6(5) victory over [38] Aliaksandra Sasnovich. [7] Coco Gauff also had a second set battle against [75] Emma Raducanu. Gauff won 6-3, 7-6(4). [10] Madison Keys defeated [89] Xinyu Wang 6-3, 6-2. It’s a bit ironic that the three top ten Americans are all in the same half of the draw. [13] Danielle Collins had to battle hard for her three-set victory. [133] Karolina Muchova won the first set; however, Collins came back to force a third set tiebreaker. Collins won 6-7(1), 6-2, 7-6(10-6).

Embed from Getty Images

[16] Frances Tiafoe is still going strong, nice to see this. He made relatively easy work of [194] Juncheng Shang. However, keep an eye on Shang, at seventeen, he was right there in the first two sets. [44] Bernarda Pera defeated [29] Qinwen Zheng 6-4, 6-4. Qualifier [216] Brandon Holt went five sets to get his victory. Holt defeated [129] Aleksandar Vukic 6-4, 1-6, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3. Sometimes you must take advantage of your opportunities, and lucky loser [102] Denis Kudla did just that. Kudla defeated [98] Roman Safiullin 3-6, 7-5, 7-6(6), 6-3.

Embed from Getty Images

[59] Claire Liu defeated fellow countrywoman, [62] Madison Brengle, 6-3, 6-4. [39] Maxime Cressy defeated [38] Albert Ramos-Vinolas. Cressy dropped the third set but came out swinging in the fourth set to win 7-6(2), 7-5, 3-6, 6-3. [29] Sebastian Korda won his match 6-2, 7-5, 6-4. He defeated the qualifier, [138] Yosuke Watanuki. After dropping the first set easily, [84] Lauren Davis regrouped nicely against [54] Danka Kovinic. Davis is feeling confident after recently claiming her second career title.

Embed from Getty Images

Seeded Players Who Lost On Day 3

[8] Daria Kasatkina lost easily to countrywoman, [98] Varvara Gracheva. Uncharacteristic of Kasatkina, implying something was distracting her focus. Gracheva won 6-1, 6-1. [14] Beatriz Haddad Maia lost to [77] Nuria Parrizas Diaz. That’s a good win for Diaz as Haddad Maia was red hot at the end of 2022. The Spaniard won 7-6(11), 6-2. [15] Petra Kvitova lost 5-7, 4-6, to [40] Anhelina Kalinina. [32] Jil Teichmann lost easily, 2-6, 2-6, to [85] Lin Zhu. In the battle between two Dutch players, [61] Tallon Griekspoor defeated [32] Botic Van De Zandschulp. Griekspoor won 6-4, 6-4, 6-4.

ALL IMAGES COURTESY OF GETTY IMAGES