Ben Shelton Advances to US Open Third Round After Defeating Hurkacz

On a wet, stop-start day in New York, Ben Shelton found exactly what he said he wanted: a battle.

The American No. 8 seed slugged his way past Hubert Hurkacz 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (3), 7-5 on Wednesday, booking his place in the US Open third round and extending an impressive streak on hard courts. As far as hard-court majors go, Shelton has now reached the third round at eight straight Slams. At Flushing Meadows, he’s been beyond this stage only once, but that run went all the way to the semifinals last year.

This time, he’s taking the long road again. He needed four sets in the opening round. He needed four sets again against Hurkacz. And he welcomed the push.

“I think being battle-tested is great,” Shelton said afterward. “I don't think you want to be playing five-setters all the time. Maybe I could have won this match more efficiently today, but I thought that, you know, a lot of it was just credit to him and the level that he started to bring.”

Hurkacz did drag him into deep water. The Pole wrestled away the second set, then clung on through a tense third before Shelton snatched the tiebreak. The American’s serve and aggression carried him through the key points, and as the rallies stretched, so did his confidence.

Shelton felt the edge sharpen as the match wore on.

“I think that had I not got pushed the way he pushed me today, there are so many things that I've wanted to clean up over the last couple of days that naturally came out and continued to improve throughout the match,” he said. “Playing a match like that definitely, you know, benefits me moving forward.”

On a day when the rain wouldn’t let go of the city, that kind of resilience mattered.

Rain, roofs and a restless schedule

For a second straight day, showers rolled over New York and sliced up the schedule. Outside courts stopped and started; only Arthur Ashe Stadium and Louis Armstrong Stadium, with their roofs closed, offered uninterrupted tennis.

The tournament’s Sunday start, introduced last year, was supposed to bring order: three days to clear the first round, then everyone into the second by Wednesday. The weather tore that plan up. Some players were already fighting for spots in the third round while others were still trying to finish their first match.

The numbers told the story of the scramble: 25 men’s singles matches on Wednesday alone, just to drag the event back on track. By Wednesday night, the first round finally, belatedly, was done.

Medvedev cruises, even with birds on the net

Under the roof, Daniil Medvedev treated his second-round assignment like a training run, aside from one surreal interruption. The No. 7 seed brushed past Sebastian Gorzny 6-3, 6-3, 7-5, controlling the match with his usual elastic defense and flat, skidding groundstrokes.

Then came the birds.

Two of them settled on the net during a point. Medvedev kept playing, ripped a winner, and expected to move on. The chair umpire instead ordered the point replayed, prompting a brief, animated protest from the Russian.

“This would be definitely in the top five,” Medvedev said when asked where the episode ranked among his odd moments at Flushing Meadows. “But the thing is that when they came in, I thought, okay, the referee is going to stop the point, and he let it play, like, Okay, let's play. And the moment I hit the winner, he was, like, Stop, stop, stop.

“It's okay. It happens.”

Medvedev shrugged it off and closed the match in straight sets, his campaign quietly gathering pace behind the noise of the rain and the schedule chaos.

De Minaur adapts, Jodar routed

Others had to adapt on the fly just to get on court.

Alex de Minaur, the No. 6 seed from Australia, saw his match moved twice before he finally started his US Open on Court 11. Once he got there, he wasted no time. De Minaur dismantled Italy’s Andrea Guerrieri 6-2, 6-2, 6-4, using his speed and clean timing to smother any hint of resistance.

“It's been a couple tough days. But I mean, these tournaments, it's all about adapting and that's the name of the game,” de Minaur said. “There's too much to play for to let something like this affect you.”

Not everyone managed the disruption.

No. 12 seed Rafael Jodar, the 19-year-old Spaniard who arrived in New York on the back of a strong summer, never settled. His delayed first-round match finally wrapped up with a heavy defeat: a 6-2, 6-1, 6-1 rout at the hands of China’s Yunchaokete Bu.

“I knew it wasn't going to be easy because I was waiting a lot yesterday and today as well, but it is what it is,” Jodar said. “We cannot control the rain, so it's difficult for both players.”

Bu, sharp and ruthless, needed little invitation to turn that difficulty into a statement win.

Michelsen upsets Nakashima

As the tournament raced to catch up, one of the late results carried a jolt.

American Alex Michelsen took out compatriot Brandon Nakashima, the No. 16 seed, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 in a clean, composed performance. On a day dominated by delays and reshuffled orders of play, Michelsen delivered one of the clearest scorelines, knocking a seed out of the draw in straight sets.

By night’s end, the rain had finally loosened its grip, the first round was complete, and the men’s field had taken shape. Shelton is still there, scarred a little by early battles, exactly how he likes it. The question now is how far that battle-hardened edge can carry him through the New York storm.