Carlos Alcaraz and Iga Swiatek advance at US Open; Elena Rybakina, Venus Williams crash out

World number one and French Open champion Swiatek eased past Italy's Jasmine Paolini 6-3, 6-0 in just 67 minutes. Victory was a relief for the 21-year-old Pole who had suffered early losses at warm-up events in Toronto and Cincinatti. "In matches, being a little bit stressed and tight, it can get a little bit worse, but still, I feel like my level is just better," said Swiatek who next faces 2017 champion Sloane Stephens. "We'll see if I'm going to hold on to that." Alcaraz, the 19-year-old world number four, was made to sweat by battling Sebastian Baez, winning the first two sets 7-5, 7-5 before the Argentine retired injured 0-2 down in the third.

"Nobody wants to see a match end like this. Sebastian is a great player, fights to the last ball and deserves better things," said Alcaraz, a quarter-finalist in 2021. As the temperature soared beyond the 30-degree mark, 42-year-old Venus Williams and Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina were high-profile casualties.

After seeing Serena Williams stave off impending retirement by reaching the second round on Monday, big sister Venus was eyeing an 80th career win at the tournament. However, Venus, who first played the US Open in 1997, was defeated 6-1, 7-6 (7/5) by Belgium's Alison van Uytvanck, the 28-year-old world number 43. "Three letters is W-I-N. That's it. Very simple," said two-time champion Venus, now ranked 1,504, when asked to explain why she keeps playing. However, she remains without a win since Wimbledon last year. Rybakina lost 6-4, 6-4 to French qualifier Clara Burel, ranked a lowly 131, on the back of 37 unforced errors. Burel had been on the verge of elimination in the qualifiers when she had to save five match points in her final tie. Olympic champion Belinda