Frances Tiafoe, Alexander Zverev reach US Open 3rd round - ESPN

Frances Tiafoe advanced to the third round of the US Open on Wednesday when Alexander Shevchenko retired in the third set with the 20th-seeded American leading 6-4, 6-1, 1-0.

Tiafoe, who reached the US Open semifinals in 2022, was in complete control when Shevchenko, who had the trainer out after the second set, suddenly called it a day.

«Happy to get it done. Hate to win it that way but overall I thought I actually played pretty well today,» Tiafoe said after a stress-free victory during which he changed shirts five times.

Tiafoe broke Shevchenko to take the first set and grabbed a 5-1 double-break lead in the second before serving out the one-sided match.

Tiafoe has now won 11 of his past 15 matches since bringing David Witt on as his coach in Atlanta, highlighted by a run to his first Masters 1000 final in Cincinnati. Prior to that, Tiafoe had a 15-15 record at the tour level this season through Wimbledon.

Witt has been Venus Williams' longtime coach for 11 years, and has also worked with Jessica Pegula and Maria Sakkari.

Up next for Tiafoe could be compatriot Ben Shelton if he defeats Spain's Roberto Bautista Agut when the two close out the day session on Grandstand.

In other men's singles results from Wednesday, Alexander Zverev dispatched Alexandre Muller 6-4, 7-6 (5), 6-1 on a sweltering Louis Armstrong Stadium court.

Zverev is now one win shy of 100 career major match wins and is inching closer toward joining Boris Becker (163) and Tommy Haas (105) as the only German men to win 100+ major matches.

The big-serving fourth seed blasted 15 aces and employed a drop-shot finesse at the net to preserve his hopes of capturing a career-first major after a runner-up finish at Roland Garros.

Zverev proved too much for world