US Open Day 4 Recap: Nadal bleeds to win, Serena-Venus Williams lose; history for Britain, China

New York: Rafael Nadal’s second round match on the fourth day of the US Open had pretty much everything. A slow start where he struggled to find rhythm to his shots. Fabio Fognini playing some sensational tennis and usual hot shots. And if the tennis wasn’t enough, Nadal smacked himself on to his nose causing it to bleed . After all that was done, he romped to victory . Play was delayed for about five minutes as Nadal received a medical timeout in the fourth set of what would become a 2-6, 6-4, 6-2, 6-1 win on Arthur Ashe Stadium in a match that began Thursday night and finished after midnight on Friday. It made for a bizarre, and briefly scary, scene, as Nadal immediately grimaced, dropped his racket, put a palm to his face and then placed both hands on his head. In his post-match press conference Rafa said he believed he might have broken his nose, which kept swelling.

Yet, Nadal managed to joke about it. Asked during his on-court interview whether he’d ever had that happen before, he chuckled and replied: “With a golf club but not with a tennis racket.” How was he feeling? “Well, just a little bit dizzy at the beginning,” said Nadal, who has won four of his 22 Grand Slam titles at the US Open, most recently in 2019, the last time he entered the hard-court tournament. “A little bit painful.” After having a bandage placed on his nose, Nadal restarted. He would lose that game, but not another, improving to 21-0 in Grand Slam matches in 2022. On the match itself, Fognini led by a set and 4-2 and he had Nadal on the ropes. But the Italian missed four shots in a row to allow Rafa in and the Spaniard didn’t need a second asking. “With Nadal, you can’t mess around,” Fognini said. “I let him back in the match and he kept getting better from there.” On his part, Rafa said, “For more than one hour and a half, I was not competing. One of the worst starts, probably, ever.”

Shot of the match: In the third set, Nadal came up with one particularly perfect shot — a forehand on the run that redirected an overhead by Fognini and sent it down the line for a winner to break for 4-2. Nadal’s momentum carried him right to the edge of the stands when he punched the air and yelled, “Vamos!” Worst starts? Stefanos Tsitsipas has the floor. Heh. Serena-Venus Williams out in doubles Serena and Venus Williams’ first doubles match together in over four years ended in a loss. The Williams sisters were eliminated by the Czech pair of Lucie Hradecka and Linda Noskova 7-6 (5), 6-4. “I was speechless when I found out I’m going to face these two. I mean, they’re legends. And I was always such a big fan of them, especially Serena. She has been my idol since ever, probably," said Noskova, a 17-year-old making her Grand Slam debut in doubles. “So I was really happy, excited, but kind of scared, to face them.” This was a special moment and the court placement said it all. Arthur Ashe Stadium, the biggest of the Billie Jean King Tennis Center complex, had never hosted a first-round doubles match — for women or men, night or day — until this one.

“It’s something incredible, because playing first round in a huge stadium, with 23,000 people, is something amazing,” said the 37-year-old Hradecka. “I don’t think (when) we played the final here, it was packed like this.” In the on-court interview she said: “I’m so sorry for you that we beat them, but we are so happy that we did it.” When it was all done, the siblings hugged each other, then left the court to a standing ovation. Serena can now put all her energies and focus on the singles competition where she is into the third round. Serena plays Ajla Tomljanovic next; Venus was bounced from that bracket in the first round. Azarenka comes through in the politically charged clash Belarussian Victoria Azarenka triumphed in a politically-charged grudge match against Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk . Azarenka cruised past Kostyuk 6-2, 6-3 in a match dominated in the build-up by bitter exchanges over the conflict in Ukraine.

The tension between the two women was evident at the end of the match on Court 17 with Kostyuk offering just a touch of racquets instead of the customary post-match handshake.

“I wasn’t surprised. I don’t believe that making a big deal out of it is important. I always shake hands with my opponents,” said Azarenka. “It is what it is. I just move on. I cannot force anybody to shake my hand. It’s their decision. How did it make me feel? It’s not the most important thing in the world right now.” The contest had heated undertones before first ball was hit. Last week, Azarenka was axed from an exhibition event aimed at raising money for the war-ravaged Ukraine. Kostyuk had refused to take part in protest at the presence of Azarenka who she has criticised for a perceived failure to condemn the invasion of her home country. Belarus is a close ally of Russia and has allowed Moscow to use its territory to launch attacks into Ukraine. History for Brit men, Chinese women Andy Murray, Cameron Norrie, Jack Draper and Dan Evans have created history for Great Britain . The quartet have reached the third round of the US Open - giving Britain four men in the last 32 in New York for the first time since 1933. On the fourth day’s play, Norrie beat Joao Sousa 6-4, 6-4, 7-6 (7/4) while Evans defeated James Duckworth 6-3, 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 to join Murray and Draper who had won a day prior.

It is also the second time in the Open Era that four Brit men are in the third round of a major. Last was the 1997 Wimbledon when Tim Henman, Mark Petchey, Andrew Richardson and Greg Rusedksi progressed to the last-32. It is not just Wu Yibing who is making a mark for Chinese tennis. Yibing, a former junior World No 1 and major winner, became the first first Chinese man in 63 years to win a singles match at a Grand Slam in the first round . In the second round, he became the first Chinese man since 1881 to reach the third round. Not to be outdone, the women have gone a step ahead . Zheng Qinwen and Yuan Yue joined compatriots Wang Xiyu and Zhang Shuai in the third round - — the first time in history four women from China have reached the last 32 of a single Grand Slam event. China, which has had major winner in Li Na before, has never before seen so many women advance to the third round of the same tournament. Shock loss for Gauff-Pegula Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula, the second seeded team, were knocked out in the first round of the women’s doubles. The team of 2021 US Open runner-up Leylah Fernandez and Daria Saville knocked off the Americans 3-6, 7-5, 7-6 (5). Gauff and Pegula were the runners-up at the French Open and the 18-year-old Gauff recently became the second-youngest player to reach No 1 in the WTA doubles rankings. Good day for the top seeds After what have been days of shockers on both men and women’s sides, Thursday had things mellowed down. Andrey Rublev, Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner, Cameron Norrie, Frances Tiafoe, Diego Schwartzman and Marin Cilic all won in straight sets. The exception being Cincinnati champion Borna Coric who lost to Jenson Brooksby. Among the women, top-ranked Iga Swiatek had no trouble with Sloane Stephens, beating the 2017 US Open champion 6-3, 6-2 to move into the third round. Other seeded winners included Jessica Pegula, Belinda Bencic, Garbine Muguruza, Danielle Collins, Petra Kvitova, Aryna Sabalenka, Karolina Pliskova. Special mention for Sabalenka who was 2-6, 1-5 down. She was then 2-5 down in the second set tiebreak. She then saved two match points to beat Kaia Kanepi 2-6, 7-6, 6-4 The exception among the women came in fourth seed Paula Badosa who lost in three sets to Petra Martic. Like Maria Sakkari, Badosa’s year at the major ends on a disappointing note with two fourth round forays - at Australian Open and Wimbledon - the best performances. Day 5 matches to watch Andy Murray vs Matteo Berrettini Madison Keys vs Coco Gauff Ajla Tomljanovic vs Serena Williams Ons Jabeur vs Shelby Rogers Bianca Andreescu vs Caroline Garcia Read all the Latest News , Trending News ,  Cricket News , Bollywood News ,  India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook , Twitter and Instagram .