U.S. Open Day 4: Sock forced to retire due to heat; Halep, Murray advance

US Open Day 4: Simona Halep, Victoria Azarenka advance; Jack Sock retires due to heat; Johanna Konta stuns Garbine Muguruza; Andy Murray comes back to beat Adrian Mannarino in five sets.

Author:
Jamie Lisanti
Publish date:
Sep 3, 2015

NEW YORK – Catch up on the news and results from Day 4 at the U.S. Open in New York.

Victoria Azarenka, Simona Halep, Angelique Kerber advance to the third round: No. 2 Halep continues to cruise through her matches in New York, defeating Kateryna Bondarenko. 6–3, 6–4 on Thursday. Halep won her first match in just 47 minutes on Tuesday and finished off the Ukrainian in 77 minutes to advance to the third round. She'll face either American Shelby Rogers and Kurumi Nara next.

In the first match on Arthur Ashe, No. 20 Azarenka took down Yanina Wickmayer 7–5, 6–4 and No. 11 Kerber defeated Karin Knapp, 7–5, 6–2. Azarenka and Kerber will meet in the third round.

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Jack Sock forced to retire due to cramping, heat exhaustion: Up 6–4, 6–4, 3–6, 2–1 against Ruben Bemelmans, Sock was overcome by the heat and was forced to retire from the match, unable to continue. The medical staff quickly ran on court when Sock became unable to stand up, appearing groggy and fatigued. The trainers responded by draping him in cool towels and ice bags to bring down his body temperature. A wheelchair was brought out, but the 22-year-old was able to walk off the court with help from the training staff.

Sara Errani also struggled with the heat in her match, taking a medial timeout in hermatch against Jelena Ostapenko after dropping the first five games. The Italian complained of dizziness but eventually pulled through to beat the 18-year-old qualifier, 0–6, 6–4, 6–3.

Denis Istomin also retired to Dominic Thiem down two sets and 1-0 in the third set on Thursday. With Istomin and Sock's retirements on Thursday, the men's retirement total for the tournament is now 12, a new Open Era record in majors.

Jack Sock faints during U.S. Open match, forced to retire

Johanna Konta continues her winning ways: Riding a 15-match win streak, British qualifier Konta stunned No. 9 seed and Wimbledon runner-up Garbine Muguruza on Thursday, 7–6(4), 6–7(4), 6–2. The marathon match lasted three hours and 23 minutes, a U.S. Open record for the longest women's match since tiebreakers were introduced in 1970. Muguruza, who has made at least the fourth round at the three previous Slams, is the 12th seeded player—sixth of the top 10 seeds—to drop out of the women's draw in the first four days of the tournament. Ranked No. 97, Konta is into the third round at a Slam for the first time.

"Obviously I'm happy that I have been able to stay healthy enough to be competing as much as I have," Konta said after the match. "You know, I am going to lose sooner or later. I'm not invincible. I'm no Serena Williams."

Down two sets, Andy Murray comes back to beat Adrian Mannarino: Mannarino came out firing on Arthur Ashe vs. Murray, quickly going up two sets to none. The 27-year-old Frenchman won the last 11 points of the second set to go ahead of the No. 3 seed, but Murray refocused and returned to form in the third set. He's now come back from being down two sets eight times in his career. Murray will play No. 30 Thomaz Bellucci in the third round.

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Sam Stosur dominates her match: The 2011 U.S. Open champion is into the third round for the first time since 2012. No. 22 Stosur was the first player to advance on Thursday, beating Evgeniya Rodina, 6–1, 6–1.

Donald Young does it again: After coming back from two sets and a break to beat No. 11 Gilles Simon, Young rallied again to defeat Aljaz Bedene 3–6, 6–4, 6–4, 6–2 on Thursday. Once again relying on his mental toughness, Young pulled through after dropping the first set to make the third round at a Grand Slam for the first time since the 2014 French Open.

No. 13 John Isner also advanced on Thursday, beating Mikhail Youzhny 6–3, 6–4, 6–4 in one hour and 41 minutes on Louis Armstrong. He's into the third round at the U.S. Open for the seventh straight year. Isner will face Jiri Vesely, who defeated Ivo Karlovic 7–6(3), 3–6, 3–6, 6–2, 7–6(4) on Thursday.

Petra Kvitova makes quick work of American Nicole Gibbs: The No. 5 seed needed just 70 minutes to take down Gibbs on Thursday, beating her 6–3, 6–4 to advance to the third round.

More notable results: Stan Wawrinka d. Hyeon Chung 7–6(2), 7–6(4), 7–6(6); Thomaz Bellucci d. Yoshihito Nishioka, 6–0, 6–3, 6–4; Varvara Lepchenko d. Lesia Tsurenko, 7–6(7), 6–2; Mona Barthel d. Olga Govortsova, 2–6, 6–2, 6–4; Viktor Troicki d. Rajeev Ram, 7–6(10), 6–4, 3-6, 6–3; Angelique Kerber d. Karin Knapp, 7–5, 6–2; Andrea Petkovic d. Elena Vesnina, 6–3, 7–6(4)