news-engine

Aussie last hope denied shot at top seed despite $403k US Open life changer Australian Dane Sweeny’s giant-killing run at the US Open is over as the 25-year-old wildcard fell to 21st seed Luciano Darderi in straight sets in New York on Sunday morning Australian time. After stunning Darderi’s countryman, 13th seed Lorenzo Musetti, in the second round, Sweeny, who complained of a hip issue, was unable to recreate his heroics to set up a likely final 16 date with top seed Alexander Zverev as the Italian prevailed 6-4, 6-3, 6-3 on Court 5. Watch the biggest Aussie sports & the best from overseas LIVE on Kayo Sports | New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1. Sweeny, who had never won a grand slam match before defeating French veteran Gael Monfils at the Australian Open earlier this year, picks up a career-best US$290,000 (A$402,830) in prize money for his third-round run at Flushing Meadows, which also included downing Frenchman Corentin Moutet, who made the fourth round in 2022. The world No.123 is also set to climb to 109th in the world rankings after being Australia’s last man standing in New York following Alex de Minaur’s shock second round exit. Sweeny only gained a last-minute wildcard to make his US Open main draw debut after countryman Alexei Popyrin withdrew, but if he can rise into the top 100 by year’s end, there will be no need for a wildcard, or qualifying, for January’s Australian Open. Meanwhile, Zheng Qinwen rallied from 0-5 down in the final set to stun Madison Keys and reach the US Open last 16 as American hopes took a knock on a Saturday of surprises. Keys was followed to the exit by fellow Americans Taylor Fritz and 2025 women’s finalist Amanda Anisimova. Francisco Cerundolo, the 24th seed from Argentina, rallied from two sets down to upset ninth-seeded Fritz 3-6, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 while Austrian Anastasia Potapova beat Anisimova 6-2, 7-5. Cerundolo next meets big-serving Alexander Blockx, the 28th seed from Belgium who ousted fifth-seeded French Open finalist Flavio Cobolli 6-7 (4/7), 6-3, 6-0, 6-3. Zheng saved a match point in her 1-6, 7-6 (7/3), 7-5 triumph over Keys, the 2025 Australian Open champion and a US Open finalist back in 2017. After coming through the second-set tie-breaker, Zheng appeared to be out of steam in the final set. The former world number four had to come through qualifying after a lengthy recovery from elbow surgery saw her ranking plummet. Keys raced to a 5-0 lead in the third but Zheng had a last stand in her. She saved match point at 5-1 and just kept rolling, Keys’s increasing frustration showing as she banged her head with her racquet after one lost point. “I just told myself keep holding every single point, never give up, stay there. And somehow little by little it just happened,” Zheng said. Zheng, currently ranked 121st in the world, will face six-time Grand Slam champion Iga Swiatek for a place in the quarter-finals. She is the first qualifier to reach the US Open women’s singles fourth round since Emma Raducanu -- who went on to win the title in 2021. Zheng who called the months after her elbow surgery “the worst period” of her pro career, was delighted to be in the second week. “The hard work pays off finally,” she said. Potapova reached the US Open fourth round for the first time, twice recovering a break in the second set to topple 10th-seeded Anisimova. For Potapova, it is the continuance of a resurgence which has her back inside the top 25 in the world rankings less than six months after she had fallen to 97th. She next faces fifth-seeded French Open champion Mirra Andreeva, who beat Nikola Bartunkova 6-2, 7-6 (7/5). Fourth-seeded Coco Gauff advanced to the fourth round of the US Open on Saturday, turning back Spain’s Cristina Bucsa in straight sets. Gauff, the 2023 US Open champion, topped the 40th ranked Spaniard 6-3 6-4 in 88 minutes, charging the net on match point and sealing the victory when Bucsa’s lob sailed long. “She’s a tricky player, so it’s tough to get rhythm,” Gauff said of the Spaniard. “Happy with how I fought through even when I wasn’t playing my best.” Gauff, who is on a nine-match winning streak after triumphing in the Cincinnati warm-up tournament, will next play either rising American Iva Jovic or Alex Eala of the Philippines. In a largely baseline battle both Gauff and Bucsa made effective forays to the net and dug in defensively to extend the rallies with difficult retrievals that enthralled the crowd in Arthur Ashe Stadium. Trailing 1-3 in the opening set, Gauff won the next five games, earning a key hold for 4-3 despite two double faults in a row. Gauff struck first in the second set, breaking for 4-3 lead only to immediately drop her own serve. But she broke again in the next game and served out the match efficiently to reach the second week at Flushing Meadows for a fifth straight year. The 2023 champion, Gauff will be looking to improve upon her result the last two years when she fell in the fourth round. - Zverev under the lights - Poland’s Swiatek, seeded eighth as she seeks to cap an erratic season with a second US Open crown, dominated both tiebreakers in a 7-6 (7/3), 7-6 (7/3) victory over 25th-seeded Maria Bouzkova, who broke Swiatek early in each set but couldn’t make the lead stand up. “For sure it was a super tough match,” Swiatek said. “It got pretty physical, many long rallies and I had to attack many times because (Bouzkova) was defending really well, getting every ball back.” Men’s top seed Alexander Zverev was again due to close out the night session, taking on Chile’s Alejandro Tabilo. In two five-set matches, both spilling into the early hours of the morning, the German has already spent nine hours and 26 minutes on court. Zverev says he feels fine physically, but he knows he will have to play better if he wants to add a second Grand Slam title to the French Open trophy he captured this year. Other top players due in action include former women’s champions Coco Gauff and Naomi Osaka, along with reigning Australian Open champion Elena Rybakina.