Tennis-Medvedev, Pegula, Shelton advance as rain disrupts US Open schedule

Daniil Medvedev flew into the ​third round after an avian disruption at the U.S. ​Open on Wednesday, as American Jessica Pegula ‌crushed ​compatriot Sofia Kenin and Ben Shelton overcame Hubert Hurkacz on another rainswept day. Medvedev, the 2021 winner, beat U.S. wildcard Sebastian Gorzny 6-1 6-3 7-5 to start the action at ‌Louis Armstrong Stadium, where two birds landing on the net became the biggest source of frustration for the mercurial Russian.

The third-ranked Pegula needed just 56 minutes to dismantle 2020 Australian Open winner Kenin 6-3 6-1 in the first match at Arthur Ashe Stadium ‌to set up a meeting with the 2021 runner-up, Canadian Leylah Fernandez. "To be out of there in under an ‌hour, it doesn't always happen. So I think I'm just going to take that one and run," said Pegula, the runner-up in 2024.

Eighth seed Ben Shelton had a more difficult time, beating Poland's Hubert Hurkacz 6-3 5-7 7-6(3) 7-5, as he relied on the energy of the home crowd to ⁠power through. The ​Montreal winner has emerged as ⁠one of the brightest hopes of ending a 23-year U.S. men's major drought in a diminished field missing injured world number one Jannik Sinner.

It was ⁠not all good news for the Americans, however, as the 2017 champion Sloane Stephens exited against Ukraine's 11th seed Marta Kostyuk in a ​6-1 7-5 defeat. SABALENKA, ALCARAZ HIGHLIGHT EVENING PROGRAMME

The first round of the tournament spilled over into a fourth day on ⁠the outer courts, after relentless rain on Tuesday disrupted the schedule and rain forced another brief delay on Wednesday. Opening the action on the Grandstand court, Alex ⁠Michelsen ​upset fellow American and 16th seed Brandon Nakashima 6-3 6-4 6-4 in their second-round match.

Australian sixth seed Alex de Minaur, whose Tuesday night match on Grandstand was postponed, got his opener underway against Italian qualifier Andrea Guerrieri on Court ⁠11. Fans can look forward to a stellar evening programme on Ashe, where Aryna Sabalenka continues her quest for a third straight ⁠title against qualifier Polina Iatcenko, ⁠while Carlos Alcaraz plays Portugal's Jaime Faria in his title defence.

American fan favourite Frances Tiafoe kicks off the night session on Armstrong against Japan's Rei Sakamoto, followed by a clash between ‌Czech Wimbledon champion ‌Linda Noskova and Thailand's Lanlana Tararudee.