Bianca Andreescu is into the third round at the U.S. Open.
The sixth-seeded Canadian downed American Lauren Davis, 6-4, 6-4 on Thursday, and remains undefeated at the Grand Slam following her 2019 title at Flushing Meadows in New York.
Andreescu failed to hold serve twice in the opening set but broke right back both times to avoid any sort of early trouble.
Despite 11 unforced errors and opening the match down 2-0, she quickly turned it into a 3-2 lead and finished the set by taking six of the last eight games.
WATCH | Andreescu cruises past Davis to advance into 3rd round of U.S. Open:
Bianca Andreescu advances to U.S. Open 3rd round with straight sets victory
4 hours ago
Bianca Andreescu of Mississauga, Ont., defeats American Lauren Davis 6-4, 6-4 in the second round of the U.S. Open. 1:59
Both players continued to struggle holding serve in the second set, but the Mississauga, Ont., native battled through and ended the match in one hour 35 minutes.
Andreescu overcame 23 unforced errors with six aces while winning 6-of-8 break points.
Next up for Andreescu is 104th-ranked Greet Minnen of Belgium, who got into the tournament as the lucky loser.
Andreescu missed the 2020 U.S. Open, withdrawing from the tournament after battling various injuries that set her back.
Later Thursday, men’s seventh seed Denis Shapovalov of Richmond Hill, Ont., earned a straight sets win over Roberto Carballes Baena of Spain to advance.
Shapovalov got stronger as the night went on, firing nine aces and taking the match 7-6 (7), 6-3, 6-0.
WATCH | Shapovalov eases his way into the 3rd round of the U.S. Open with straight sets win:
Shapovalov cruises into 3rd round of U.S. Open
2 hours ago
Denis Shapovalov of Richmond Hill, Ont., defeats Spain’s Roberto Carballes Baena 7-6 (7), 6-3, 6-0 in the second round of the U.S. Open. 2:42
He will face Lloyd Harris of South Africa in the third round.
Meanwhile, Vancouver’s Vasek Pospisil is out after a 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (5) loss to Ilya Ivashka of Belarus in second-round action on the men’s side.
Pospisil had 12 aces in the match and outscored Ivashka 35-23 on winners. But the Canadian was undone by mistakes, committing 46 unforced errors, compared to just 19 by Ivashka.
Pospisil was looking to build on his comeback win over Fabio Fognini in the first round. Pospisil was down two sets before rallying to eliminate the 28th-seeded Italian.
WATCH | Vancouver’s Pospisil eliminated in 2nd round of U.S. Open by Ivashka:
Vancouver’s Vasek Pospisil ousted in U.S. Open 2nd round
9 hours ago
Ilya Ivashka of Belarus beat Vancouver’s Vasek Pospisil 6-3, 6-4, 7-6(5) to advance to the third round of the U.S. Open. 1:30
Djokovic wins in straight sets to advance
Novak Djokovic has easily reached the third round of the U.S. Open with a 6-2, 6-3, 6-2 victory over Tallon Griekspoor of the Netherlands.
Djokovic improved to 15-0 in second-round matches at the U.S. Open and remained unbeaten in Grand Slam matches this season. He is trying to become the first man to win all four majors in the same year since 1969.
The No. 1 seed’s biggest problem came in the second set with a heckling fan, but Djokovic regained his concentration to put away the victory.
Barty eases into 3rd round with win over Tauson
Women’s No. 1 seed Ash Barty advanced to the third round of the U.S. Open with a 6-1, 7-5 win over Clara Tauson.
Barty missed the tournament in 2020 because of the pandemic, staying home in Australia. The reigning Wimbledon champion, Barty had trouble closing out Tauson but survived and will try to reach the quarter-finals at Flushing Meadows for the first time.
Olympic gold medallist and 11th-seeded Belinda Bencic defeated Martina Trevisan 6-3, 6-1. Bencic reached the third round at the U.S. Open for the fifth time in her career. She reached the semifinals in 2019.
Zverev continues march through U.S. Open with straight-sets victory
Olympic gold medallist Alexander Zverev cruised to the third round of the U.S. Open with a 6-1, 6-0, 6-3 win over Albert Ramos-Vinolas.
Zverev is trying to make the U.S. Open final for the second straight year. He won the first two sets last year in the final against Dominic Thiem before losing the match in his first Grand Slam final.
Zverev won the gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics and is one of three players with four titles this season.
He needed only 74 minutes to win his 13th straight match.
Kvitova, Swiatek roll through to 3rd round
On the women’s side, Petra Kvitova is headed to the third round of the U.S. Open after a 7-6 (7), 6-2 win over Kristyna Pliskova.
The two-time Wimbledon champion (2011, 2014) improved to 31-13 at Flushing Meadows but the 10th-seeded Kvitova has never advanced beyond the quarter-finals. She used nine aces to reach the third round for the 11th time in her career.
The Czech player now trails only 2020 finalist Victoria Azarenka for most U.S Open wins among women in the draw.
Swiatek survived an upset bid and held on to beat Fiona Ferro 3-6, 7-6(3), 6-0.
WATCH | Canada’s Fernandez battles from behind to defeat Kanepi in 2nd round:
Fernandez battles her way into U.S. Open 3rd round
2 days ago
Laval’s Leylah Annie Fernandez came from behind in the second set to beat Estonian Kaia Kanepi 7-5, 7-5 on a rainy day in New York. 1:56
CLEVELAND (AP) — Restricted free agent forward Isaac Okoro has agreed to re-sign with the Cleveland Cavaliers on a three-year contract, a person familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press on Saturday.
Okoro’s new deal is worth $38 million, according to the person who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the contract has not been signed or announced by the team.
ESPN.com first reported the agreement, citing Okoro’s representation.
The fifth overall pick in the 2020 NBA draft, Okoro is Cleveland’s best perimeter defender, often drawing the assignment of guarding the opponent’s top scorer. Okoro also has worked to improve his offensive game.
The 23-year-old averaged 9.4 points and 3.0 rebounds in 69 games — 42 starts — last season for the Cavs, who beat Orlando in the opening round of the playoffs before losing to eventual champion Boston.
Okoro shot a career-best 39% on 3-pointers, forcing teams to come out and guard him.
His agreement caps an extraordinarily busy summer for the Cavs that began with coach J.B. Bickerstaff being fired and replaced by Kenny Atkinson. All-Star guard Donovan Mitchell signed a three-year, $150 million extension in July, ending months of speculation that he wanted out of Cleveland.
Also, power forward Evan Mobley signed a five-year, $224 deal and center Jarrett Allen signed a three-year, $91 million extension.
GUADALAJARA, Mexico – Canada’s Marina Stakusic fell 6-4, 6-3 to Poland’s Magdalena Frech in the quarterfinals of the Guadalajara Open tennis tournament on Friday.
The 19-year-old from Mississauga, Ont., won 61 per cent of her first-serve points and broke on just one of her six opportunities.
Stakusic had upset top-seeded Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (0) on Thursday night to advance.
In the opening round, Stakusic defeated Slovakia’s Anna Karolína Schmiedlová 6-2, 6-4 on Tuesday.
The fifth-seeded Frech won 62 per cent of her first-serve points and converted on three of her nine break point opportunities.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
TORONTO – Alejandro Kirk’s long single with the bases loaded provided the Toronto Blue Jays with a walk-off 4-3 win in the 11th inning of their series opener against the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday.
With the Cardinals outfield in, Kirk drove a shot off the base of the left-field wall to give the Blue Jays (70-78) their fourth win in 11 outings and halt the Cardinals’ (74-73) two-game win streak before 30,380 at Rogers Centre.
Kirk enjoyed a two-hit, two-RBI outing.
Erik Swanson (2-2) pitched a perfect 11th inning for the win, while Cardinals reliever Ryan Fernandez (1-5) took the loss.
Blue Jays starter Kevin Gausman enjoyed a seven-inning, 104-pitch outing. He surrendered his two runs on nine hits and two walks and fanned only two Cardinals.
He gave way to reliever Genesis Cabrera, who gave up a one-out homer to Thomas Saggese, his first in 2024, that tied the game in the eighth.
The Cardinals started swiftly with four straight singles to open the game. But they exited the first inning with only two runs on an RBI single to centre from Nolan Arendao and a fielder’s choice from Saggese.
Gausman required 28 pitches to escape the first inning but settled down to allow his teammates to snatch the lead in the fourth.
He also deftly pitched out of threats from the visitors in the fifth, sixth and seventh thanks to some solid defence, including Will Wagner’s diving stop, which led to a double play to end the fifth inning.
George Springer led off with a walk and stole second base. He advanced to third on Nathan Lukes’s single and scored when Vladimir Guerrero Jr. knocked in his 95th run with a double off the left-field wall.
Lukes scored on a sacrifice fly to left field from Spencer Horwitz. Guerrero touched home on Kirk’s two-out single to right.
In the ninth, Guerrero made a critical diving catch on an Arenado grounder to throw out the Cardinals’ infielder, with reliever Tommy Nance covering first. The defensive gem ended the inning with a runner on second base.
St. Louis starter Erick Fedde faced the minimum night batters in the first three innings thanks to a pair of double plays. He lasted five innings, giving up three runs on six hits and a walk with three strikeouts.
ON DECK
Toronto ace Jose Berrios (15-9) will start the second of the three-game series on Saturday. He has a six-game win streak.
The Cardinals will counter with righty Kyle Gibson (8-6).
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
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