US Open Day 4: Federer, Djokovic Progress, Wozniacki Upset By Tsurenko

The US Open continues to throw surprises with Day 4 of the tournament seeing yet another major upset after the second seed in the women’s draw Caroline Wozniacki was knocked in straight sets by Lesia Tsurenko.

The Dane was playing the last match of the night session on Louis Armstrong Stadium and after a strong start to the match, which saw her race into a 3-1 lead, she fell apart as the Ukranian won 6-4, 6-2 in one hour and 41 minutes.

Wozniacki looked in good form after she beat former US Open champion Samantha Stosur in straight sets in the first round. She became the second big casualty in the women’s draw after world number one and top seed Simona Halep was knocked on the opening day by Kaia Kanepi.

Tsurenko revealed after the match that her experience of playing night matches in high humidity helped her overcome the world number two. She also pointed toward her recent win over former French Open winner Garbine Muguruza at the Cincinnati Masters prior to the US Open as a confidence booster coming into this game.

"I have a good experience of playing night matches with the high humidity because of two titles in Acapulco,” Tsurenko said after her shock win over Wozniacki on Thursday night, according to WTA Tennis.

"I actually think that my win against Muguruza in Cincinnati and some victories there gave me the confidence that I can play well," the Ukranian added. "I was here early. I prepared well. I got many sessions with my coach and also with the other players playing points.

Meanwhile, in the men’s draw, second seed Roger Federer progressed to the third round with relative ease after beating Frenchman Benoit Paire in straight sets. It took the Swiss just under two hours to complete the 7-5, 6-4, 6-4 win to set up a mouth-watering clash against Australian bad boy Nick Kyrgios.

Federer and Kyrgios have played each other three times thus far with the former holding a 2-1 head-to-head advantage. But eight of the nine sets they have played have been decided with a tie-breaker making the encounter a highly anticipated one in the first week of the US Open.

Novak Djokovic, the sixth seed and also one of the pre-tournament favorites, also progressed into the third round but like his first round clash needed four sets to dispatch his opponent Tennys Sandgren.

The Serbian has not been at his best in the first two rounds, but Djokovic normally picks up form as the tournament enters its latter stages. He will face Frenchman Richard Gasquet in the third round and as things stand, the Serb is on course to meet Federer in the quarter-finals.

The other top seeds in the men’s draw, namely number four seed Alexander Zverev and number seven seed Marin Cilic also progressed with little fuss with both players winning their games comfortably in straight sets.

Maria Sharapova also made her way into the third round after a small scare from Sorana Cirstea and will next face tenth seed Jelena Ostapenko.

Day 5 of the US Open promises to be an exciting one with all eyes on the third round clash between the Williams sisters – Serena and Venus. Top seed Rafael Nadal will also be in action taking on number 27 seed Karen Khachanov.