World number three Stefanos Tsitsipas fired down a career-high 27 aces on the way to a 6-3 6-4 6-7(4) 6-0 win over second-round opponent Adrian Mannarino, but another protracted bathroom break drew jeers from the US Open crowd.
Greek Tsitsipas won all of his first-serve points in the opening set and fired off 53 winners in the match to Mannarino's 26 and looked set for a straightforward win at Arthur Ashe Stadium before the Frenchman won a third-set tiebreak.
Tsitsipas then retreated to the locker room for a bathroom break of more than seven minutes, leaving Mannarino to ask for some balls to be brought out so that he could stay loose ahead of the fourth set.
Tsitsipas, who infuriated Andy Murray in the last round by taking a seven minute-plus break, was met with a chorus of boos from spectators when he returned and even as he served to start the set.
The jeers had little impact on his performance, however, as he powered through the final six games to set up a third-round tie against Spanish teenager Carlos Alvaraz.
Tsitsipas said after the match that he was completely soaked with sweat after the third set and that important for him "to feel refreshed".
"I haven't done anything wrong, so I don't understand," Tsitsipas said after the match, adding that he had nothing against the fans who booed him.
"I love the fans. But some people don't understand," he said. "They haven't played tennis at a high level to understand how much effort and how much difficult it is to do what we are doing.
"Sometimes we need a short break to do what we have to do."
Mannarino said he did not believe Tsitsipas had done anything wrong but that tennis officials should rethink the rules allowing the protracted breaks.
"The rule is wrong because it's not fair to cut the pace of the match like that but I don't think he's doing anything wrong because he's allowed to do that," he said.
Roland-Garros runner-up Tsitsipas also said he did not realize he had exceeded his previous career high of 22 aces in a match.
"I just felt very loose on my serve. My ball toss was very consistent," said Tsitsipas. "I didn't really think about it, that it was that many."
Russian Daniil Medvedev made quick work of second-round opponent Dominik Koepfer to win 6-4 6-1 6-2, soaking up the cheers of the US Open crowd to keep alive his bid for a maiden Grand Slam title.
The world number two broke his German opponent's serve to kick off the match but Koepfer levelled with a break in the seventh game, helped by one of two Medvedev double faults in the opening set.
It was one of a rare few moments of vulnerability for the 25-year-old, who kicked into high gear in the second set, hitting 10 winners in a clinical performance with just five unforced errors.
Medvedev, who went from villain to crowd favourite as the runner-up in 2019, won all but one of his first-serve points in the third set and struck five aces past Koepfer, closing out victory in one hour and 48 minutes.
"I'm really happy to be through in less than two hours," Medvedev said. "I try to take every match as a new challenge - the more I win throughout my career ... the better I will feel."
The pair played under Arthur Ashe Stadium's retractable roof, which was closed due to inclement weather, two years after Medvedev defeated Koepfer in the fourth round at Flushing Meadows in four sets.
"It was a great match from my side. I'm really happy," said Medvedev, who lost to world number one Novak Djokovic in the Australian Open final earlier this year.
"I had to stay super consistent. I knew it from the beginning of the match, because two years ago when I played him it was a tight one."
The performance was encouraging for Cincinnati semi-finalist Medvedev, who picked up his fourth Masters 1000 title last month in Toronto. He faces Spain's Pablo Andujar in the third round.
Qualifier Botic van de Zandschulp sent Norwegian eighth seed Casper Ruud packing 3-6 6-4 6-3 6-4 in the second round in the biggest upset of a tournament that has so far mostly gone to script.
Also exiting the tournament was 15th seeded Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov, who retired with an injury while trailing Australian Alexei Popyrin 7-6(4) 7-6(4) 4-0.
- Reuters
Tsitsipas fires 27 aces in second-round win, jeered for bathroom break
Image: Robert Deutsch-USA TODAY Sports
World number three Stefanos Tsitsipas fired down a career-high 27 aces on the way to a 6-3 6-4 6-7(4) 6-0 win over second-round opponent Adrian Mannarino, but another protracted bathroom break drew jeers from the US Open crowd.
Greek Tsitsipas won all of his first-serve points in the opening set and fired off 53 winners in the match to Mannarino's 26 and looked set for a straightforward win at Arthur Ashe Stadium before the Frenchman won a third-set tiebreak.
Tsitsipas then retreated to the locker room for a bathroom break of more than seven minutes, leaving Mannarino to ask for some balls to be brought out so that he could stay loose ahead of the fourth set.
Tsitsipas, who infuriated Andy Murray in the last round by taking a seven minute-plus break, was met with a chorus of boos from spectators when he returned and even as he served to start the set.
The jeers had little impact on his performance, however, as he powered through the final six games to set up a third-round tie against Spanish teenager Carlos Alvaraz.
Tsitsipas said after the match that he was completely soaked with sweat after the third set and that important for him "to feel refreshed".
"I haven't done anything wrong, so I don't understand," Tsitsipas said after the match, adding that he had nothing against the fans who booed him.
"I love the fans. But some people don't understand," he said. "They haven't played tennis at a high level to understand how much effort and how much difficult it is to do what we are doing.
"Sometimes we need a short break to do what we have to do."
Mannarino said he did not believe Tsitsipas had done anything wrong but that tennis officials should rethink the rules allowing the protracted breaks.
"The rule is wrong because it's not fair to cut the pace of the match like that but I don't think he's doing anything wrong because he's allowed to do that," he said.
Roland-Garros runner-up Tsitsipas also said he did not realize he had exceeded his previous career high of 22 aces in a match.
"I just felt very loose on my serve. My ball toss was very consistent," said Tsitsipas. "I didn't really think about it, that it was that many."
Russian Daniil Medvedev made quick work of second-round opponent Dominik Koepfer to win 6-4 6-1 6-2, soaking up the cheers of the US Open crowd to keep alive his bid for a maiden Grand Slam title.
The world number two broke his German opponent's serve to kick off the match but Koepfer levelled with a break in the seventh game, helped by one of two Medvedev double faults in the opening set.
It was one of a rare few moments of vulnerability for the 25-year-old, who kicked into high gear in the second set, hitting 10 winners in a clinical performance with just five unforced errors.
Medvedev, who went from villain to crowd favourite as the runner-up in 2019, won all but one of his first-serve points in the third set and struck five aces past Koepfer, closing out victory in one hour and 48 minutes.
"I'm really happy to be through in less than two hours," Medvedev said. "I try to take every match as a new challenge - the more I win throughout my career ... the better I will feel."
The pair played under Arthur Ashe Stadium's retractable roof, which was closed due to inclement weather, two years after Medvedev defeated Koepfer in the fourth round at Flushing Meadows in four sets.
"It was a great match from my side. I'm really happy," said Medvedev, who lost to world number one Novak Djokovic in the Australian Open final earlier this year.
"I had to stay super consistent. I knew it from the beginning of the match, because two years ago when I played him it was a tight one."
The performance was encouraging for Cincinnati semi-finalist Medvedev, who picked up his fourth Masters 1000 title last month in Toronto. He faces Spain's Pablo Andujar in the third round.
Qualifier Botic van de Zandschulp sent Norwegian eighth seed Casper Ruud packing 3-6 6-4 6-3 6-4 in the second round in the biggest upset of a tournament that has so far mostly gone to script.
Also exiting the tournament was 15th seeded Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov, who retired with an injury while trailing Australian Alexei Popyrin 7-6(4) 7-6(4) 4-0.
- Reuters
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