HIGHLIGHTS-Tennis-US Open day six

Highlights of the sixth day at the U.S. Open on Friday (times ​GMT):

1936 SHNAIDER OUSTED BY TOWNSEND Diana Shnaider was stunned by ​American Taylor Townsend, who triumphed 6-2 6-7(3) 6-3. The ‌Russian ​15th seed struggled in the first set and fought back hard in the second to force a tiebreak but ultimately fell short in the third. Townsend will face defending champion Aryna Sabalenka in ‌the fourth round.

1848 MEDVEDEV ELIMINATES RINDERKNECH Russian seventh seed Daniil Medvedev overpowered Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech with a 6-4 6-4 6-4 victory. The 2021 U.S. Open champion will next face the winner of the match between Valentin Vacherot and Frances Tiafoe.

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Pegula fights ‌through, Sabalenka cruises as US Open awaits Williams sisters' return Medvedev's strong form continues with convincing win over Rinderknech

Fritz and Rybakina face tricky ‌tests as US Open third round continues Pegula overcomes Fernandez to return to US Open fourth round

Defending champion Sabalenka extends US Open winning streak with Rakhimova win Zverev survives Halys scare to reach US Open third round

Williams sisters return to Grand Slam while Pegula, Shelton face tough tests at US Open Clinical Rybakina marches into US Open third round

Tien too ⁠good as ​Monfils makes final Grand Slam bow ⁠at US Open 1755 PEGULA SURVIVES SCARE

Jessica Pegula kept alive her bid for a maiden Grand Slam title when the third-seeded American rallied from behind to beat fellow former ⁠U.S. Open finalist Leylah Fernandez 1-6 6-4 6-3 and make the fourth round. 1640 SABALENKA THROUGH TO R16

World number one Aryna Sabalenka was pushed hard by Uzbekistan's ​Kamilla Rakhimova after a relatively comfortable opening set, but the Belarusian produced a timely late break before serving out the match ⁠with a 6-3 6-4 win. 1630 KOSTYUK DOMINATES

Ukrainian 11th seed Marta Kostyuk advanced to the U.S. Open fourth round with a straight-sets 6-3 6-2 victory over Russian Ekaterina Alexandrova, keeping ⁠alive ​her bid for a maiden Grand Slam title. 1620 CIRSTEA ADVANCES

Romanian 16th seed Sorana Cirstea, 36, extended her impressive farewell-season campaign with a clinical 6-3 6-3 win over Italy's 19th-seeded Jasmine Paolini to reach the U.S. Open fourth round for the first time in three years. 1510 ⁠PLAY BEGINS

Play began in New York under sunny skies, with temperatures around 27 degrees Celsius. U.S. OPEN ORDER OF PLAY ON FRIDAY (prefix number denotes ⁠seeding):

ARTHUR ASHE STADIUM (1530 GMT/1130 ET) 3-Jessica Pegula (U.S.) ⁠v 31-Leylah Fernandez (Canada)

Yibing Wu (China) v 2-Carlos Alcaraz (Spain) Serena Williams (U.S.) & Venus Williams (U.S.) v 14-Chan Hao-Ching (China) and Maya Joint (Australia)

8-Ben Shelton (U.S.) v Denis Shapovalov (Canada) LOUIS ARMSTRONG STADIUM (1500 GMT/1100 ET)

1-Aryna Sabalenka (Belarus) v Kamilla Rakhimova (Uzbekistan) 15-Alexander Bublik (Kazakhstan) v 20-Tommy Paul (U.S.)

22-Valentin Vacherot (Monaco) v ‌11-Frances Tiafoe (U.S.) 9-Elina Svitolina (Ukraine) v ‌Anna Kalinskaya (Russia)