Alcaraz upsets Tsitsipas; Osaka shocked

Canadian teen Fernandez ends Osaka's title defence

aMedvedev continues US Open sprint with third-round win

aKerber defeats Stephens in battle of champs

aHalep outlasts Rybakina in thriller

aMuguruza beats Azarenka.

NEW YORK: Fearless Carlos Alcaraz was not distracted by another mid-match bathroom break from Stefanos Tsitsipas on Friday, holding focus to upset the Greek third seed 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (2), 0-6, 7-6 (5) and advance to the fourth round of the US Open.

Having assumed the role of villain at this year's US Open over his lengthy, well-timed trips to the restroom that have been criticized as strategic delay tactics, Tsitsipas threw everything he had at the 18-year-old Spaniard.

But Alcaraz held fast and became the youngest male player to reach the fourth round of a Grand Slam since 17-year-old Andrei Medvedev at 1992 Roland Garros.

"This victory means a lot to me. It's the best match, the best win of my career," said Alcaraz. "To beat Stefanos Tsitsipas is a dream come true for me."

Tsitsipas took a toilet break at a crucial point in the match, leaving the court after losing a third set tie-break that put the Spaniard ahead 2-1. The crowd booed as Tsitsipas left the court while television timed him. The rules allow players to take two bathroom breaks of any length per five-set match.

Tsitsipas returned less than five minutes later and stormed through the fourth set 6-0 just as he did in the second round against Adrian Mannarino.

When Tsitsipas used two bathroom breaks during his first-round meeting with Andy Murray, the Scotsman accused him of cheating and later took to social media tweeting, "It takes Stefanos Tsitsipas twice as long to go the bathroom as it takes Jeff Bezos to fly into space."

Unlike Murray and Mannarino, Alcaraz rebounded, giving no ground in a tense fifth set that went to a tie-break that the Spaniard claimed 7-5.

Two-time champion Naomi Osaka's US Open title defence ended in tears on Friday, as she suffered a stunning defeat in the third round to Canada's Leylah Fernandez 5-7, 7-6(2), 6-4, and told reporters she planned to take a break from the sport.

Playing in her first Grand Slam since pulling out of the French Open earlier this year and disclosing her battle with depression, Osaka's return to Flushing Meadows did not go to plan, as she wordlessly left the court after uncharacteristically losing her cool in the second set tiebreak.

The third seed whacked her racquet and then flung it onto the court twice in frustration as Fernandez scored five straight points in the tiebreak, in a series of superb play.

Fernandez next faces 2016 champion Angelique Kerber of Germany.

Russia's Daniil Medvedev ripped through third-round opponent Pablo Andujar 6-0, 6-4, 6-3, his third win in under two hours.

The Russian has yet to drop a set at Flushing Meadows this year and showed scarce few moments of vulnerability on Friday. He recovered from a double fault in the 10th game of the second set with a pair of aces and fired off 34 winners to Andujar's 16 across the entire match.

German Angelique Kerber triumphed in the battle of the former champions, downing Sloane Stephens 5-7, 6-2, 6-3 to reach the fourth round for the first time since 2018.

Romania's twice Grand Slam winner Simona Halep outlasted Kazakhstan's Elena Rybakina 7-6(11), 4-6, 6-3 in a dramatic third-round showdown.

12th seed Halep saved four set points before converting on her seventh courtesy of a double fault by Rybakina in an epic, 18-minute first-set tiebreak in front of a rapt and roaring crowd inside Louis Armstrong Stadium.

Rybakina fired back and built a two-break lead through the first three games of the second set, taking a medical timeout after the fifth to have her left foot taped, while Halep received a shoulder massage with the lead narrowed to 3-2.

Rybakina broke again in the ninth game, helped by one of Halep's three double faults in the second set, before closing it out in the next game with an ace, one of her 14 in the match.

After sitting on the sidelines between sets, a renewed Halep wrested the momentum in the third, cleaning up her form significantly with only six unforced errors compared to 30 in the previous two sets and winning 85% of her first-serve points.

Garbine Muguruza beat Victoria Azarenka 6-4, 3-6, 6-2 to reach the fourth round for only the second time.

Muguruza, a Grand Slam winner at the French Open and Wimbledon, has never enjoyed much success in New York, exiting in either the first or second round in seven of her previous eight visits.

The victory sets up what should be an intriguing fourth-round clash between Muguruza and eighth-seeded French Open champion Barbora Krejcikova, who advanced with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Russian lucky loser Kamilla Rakhimova. Agencies

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