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There was an interesting subplot that the tennis world did not know about the last time Serena and Venus Williams faced each other at a grand slam tournament.
It was in the final of the Australian Open last year, in which the younger of the siblings won in straight sets to claim her 23rd and most recent grand slam title and seventh title at Melbourne Park, but it was her first without dropping a set.
What everyone did not know at the time was that Serena was two months pregnant, with the whole world eventually finding out when the 36-year-old American accidentally spilled the beans on a Snapchat post intended for only her closest friends.
This spelt the end of her season, and so began the months-long countdown to the birth of her daughter, which came in dramatic circumstances in a hospital at Palm Beach in Florida.
It came just as elder sister Venus was preparing to take on Maria Sakkari in a third-round match on Arthur Ashe Stadium, where news of the heart-warming birth was made public.
Now 12 months on, and just a day short of Alexis Olympia Ohanian’s first birthday, the sisters will face off in a grand slam match for the first time since then, completing a full circle of sorts.
In between, the pair met at Indian Wells in March, with Venus winning in straight sets in what was Serena’s comeback tournament from maternity leave.
Neither were troubled in their second-round US Open matches, with Serena taking care of Carina Witthoft and Venus getting the better of Camila Giorgi, both in straight sets.
(AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)
Meanwhile there were mixed fortunes for Australia’s two best hopes, with Ashleigh Barty defeating Lucie Safarova and then seeing her draw get blown wide open after her would-be third-round opponent, 12th seed Garbine Muguruza, crashed out in the early hours of Thursday morning (Thursday afternoon AEST) to Czech qualifier Karolina Muchova, an opponent ranked outside the world’s top 200.
Muchova, who was contesting her first grand slam tournament, came from 0-2 down in the final set to notch the biggest victory of her fledgling career and put an end to a dismal year at the Majors for the Spaniard, whose best result was reaching the semi-finals of the French Open, where she was beaten by eventual champion Simona Halep.
Daria Gavrilova’s tournament came to an abrupt end earlier in the day when she went down to former world number one Victoria Azarenka in straight sets, winning just three games in the process and continuing her poor record at Flushing Meadows, whereby she is yet to get past the second round.
The Belarussian was ruthless from the outset, breaking twice in each set as she booked a third round appointment with reigning champion Sloane Stephens, who came from a set down to defeat Ukrainian qualifier Anhelina Kalinina in three sets.
Karolina Pliskova and Elina Svitolina were both victorious, but Julia Goerges’ tournament came to an early end as she was beaten in straight sets by former world number eight Ekaterina Makarova, who registered her 13th win over a top ten player at a grand slam tournament.
Only the Williams sisters and Maria Sharapova have won more matches against top ten players at this level.
(AAP Image/Craig Golding)
In the men’s draw world number one Rafael Nadal remained on track to successfully defend his US Open title after thrashing one-time Wimbledon quarter-finalist Vasek Pospisil in straight sets.
There were contrasting fortunes for two former grand slam winners making their comeback from injury, with Stan Wawrinka backing up his first-round win over Grigor Dimitrov with a four-set win over Ugo Humbert and with Andy Murray falling in four sets to 31st seed Fernando Verdasco.
Third seed Juan Martin del Potro was barely forced to sweat as he thrashed another American, Denis Kudla, in straight sets without facing a single break point and only recording one double fault in another flawless display.
If the form shown by the 2009 champion in the first two rounds is anything to go by, then Verdasco is going to have his work cut out for him in the third round.
But rising Greek star Stefanos Tsitsipas’s tournament came to an end as he was upset by Russian Daniil Medvedev in four sets. Jack Sock also departed after losing to Nikoloz Basilashvili in four sets as well.
Day 4 at Flushing Meadows promises to be another huge one, with Angelique Kerber and Roger Federer headlining the day session on Arthur Ashe Stadium before Novak Djokovic and Maria Sharapova light up the evening session.
Two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova is also in action, as are French showman Gael Monfils and reigning Australian Open champion Caroline Wozniacki.
As far as the Australians are concerned, Nick Kyrgios, Alex de Minaur and Ajla Tomljanovic can look forward to winnable matches against Pierre-Hugues Herbert, Frances Tiafoe and Katerina Siniakova respectively.
Wins for the Australian power couple of Kyrgios and Tomljanovic could set up a huge Saturday night on Arthur Ashe Stadium, whereby they would be likely to face reigning Australian Open champions Federer and Wozniacki respectively.
(Glyn Kirk / AFP).
Arthur Ashe Stadium
Day session – play starts at 2:00am AEST
Johanna Larsson (SWE) vs Angelique Kerber [4] (GER)
Benoit Paire (FRA) vs Roger Federer [2] (SUI)
Night session – play starts at 9:00am AEST
Novak Djokovic [6] (SRB) vs Tennys Sandgren (USA)
Maria Sharapova [22] (RUS) vs Sorana Cirstea (ROU)
Louis Armstrong Stadium
Day session – play starts at 1:00am AEST
Petra Kvitova [5] (CZE) vs Yang Wafan (CHN)
Nicholas Mahut (FRA) vs [4] Alexander Zverev (GER)
Madison Keys [14] (USA) vs Bernarda Pera (USA)
Night session – play starts at 9:00am AEST
Gael Monfils (FRA) vs Kei Nishikori [21] (JPN)
Lesia Tsurenko (UKR) vs Caroline Wozniacki [2] (DEN)
Court 17
Nick Kyrgios [30] (AUS) vs Pierre-Hugues Herbert (FRA)
Alex de Minaur (AUS) vs Frances Tiafoe (USA)
Court 5
Fabio Fognini [14] (ITA) vs John Millman (AUS)
Court 10
Katerina Siniakova (CZE) vs Ajla Tomljanovic (AUS)
Court 13
Vera Zvonareva (RUS) vs Aryna Sabalenka [26] (BLR)
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