U.S. Open: Auger-Aliassime topples Murray, Serena moves on

Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime raced past Andy Murray 6/2; 6/3; 6/4, while Serena Williams defeated Russia’s Margarita Gasparyan 6/2; 6/4 and Canada’s Vasek Pospisil prevailed 6/7(1); 6/3; 7/6(4); 6/3 over compatriot Milos Raonic, in a battle of powerful serves.

Murray showed signs of fatigue from the marathon in the preceding round. The 20-year old Felix hammered 24 aces and won 89 percent of first serve deliveries. Andy struggled to win just 29 of 52 first service deliveries. Felix converted 4 break opportunities while he did not face a single break threat. After the victory, Felix said: “I felt like everything was going well throughout the whole match.”

Serena lost her serve twice in the second but broke her opponent three times for a match that lasted 93 minutes. She is seeking her 7th title in New York and the 24th Grand Slam, which has eluded her twice in New York and once both in Melbourne Wimbledon London. In the third round, Serena will face fellow American, Sloane Stephens, winner in 2017.

Raonic won the first set tiebreak 7-1 while Vasek won the second on a single service break and the third set tie break 7-4.

In the fourth set, Raonic did not register a single first serve in the sixth game and committed two double faults to concede the break while Vasek extended the lead 5-2. Raonic held serve for 5-3 but his opponent closed out the match on his serve.