US Open results 2017: Venus Williams, Maria Sharapova advance, Tsonga upset

Venus Williams made short work of her second-round opponent at the US Open on Wednesday. Williams, the ninth seed, took down Oceane Dodin in straight sets, winning, 7-5, 6-4. In addition to Williams, another big name in Maria Sharapova made it through, though she needed three sets to best Timea Babos.

Williams is one of the favorites after making it to the final of the Austalian Open and Wimbledon earlier this year. Sharapova is playing in her first Grand Slam since a doping ban 15 months ago and is unseeded. Her opener was against second seed Simona Halep, and Sharapova took the win in that match.

On Wednesday, Sharapova bested Babos, 6-7(4), 6-4, 6-1. The other big name in women’s tennis to find victory on Wednesday was Elina Svitolina, the fourth seed. Svitolina bested Katerina Siniakova in three sets, 6-0, 6-7(5), 6-3.

Plenty of big names were in action and are still to come on Wednesday due to rain ruining play on every court but the main one on Tuesday. That means Wednesday saw a mix of first- and second-round play.

In first-round action, men’s sixth seed Dominic Thiem made short work of his opener, Alex de Minaur, 6-4, 6-1, 6-1. Grigor Dimitrov, the men’s seventh seed, also had little trouble with his opener, Vaclav Safranek, winning in straight sets, 6-1, 6-4, 6-2.

It wasn’t all favorites making it through on the men’s side though, although some of the victors in the upsets could be fan favorites soon enough.

Alexander Zverev — aka Sascha — a 20 year-old up-and-comer who has had a hell of a summer so far (winning Masters titles in Canada and Rome as well as tournaments in Munich, Montpellier, and Washington this year) fell to another Next Great Hope, 20 year-old Borna Coric.

The Croat felled the German in a lengthy, tiebreak-heavy, four-set match 3-6, 7-5, 7-6(1), 7-6(4). No matter what happened, a young talent was going to make it to the third round in New York so it’s an extra perk that the match was entertaining as well.

In a bigger upset Wednesday night, 8-seed and 12th-ranked Jo-Wilfried Tsonga got completely mowed over by yet another up-and-comer in Denis Shapovalov. The Canadian youngster, and his signature too-tight hat, made quick and impressive work of Tsonga winning 6-4, 6-4, 7-6(3).

He’ll be one to watch as the tournament goes on, and he at least has a few thousand new fans based on how Arthur Ashe stadium reacted to his play.

You can find full updated results of every men’s and women’s singles matches that include seeded competition over at our individual brackets here and here, respectively.