There wasn’t much time to hang around Flushing Meadow tonight. I was being asked about the murdering of a Frenchman on Court 12. I said I didn’t know anything about it. Time for a sharp exit. I knew far too much.

Apologies in advance as this was another mad dash to get the blog out. This is just an excuse for any grammatical errors I suppose.

Evo got it done today and deservedly so, he was the better player in every set of his four-set win. There were a few times where Pouille got involved with slice exchanges. Good luck with that pal! I would take that all day long. Despite dropping the third set from a break up he always looked to have the measure of the Frenchman. He did us all proud today and kept going and stuck at it, not letting it get to him. The crowd was pretty bullish on Court 12. You had the French, the English and anyone else who wanted to get involved. Generally, the neutrals seemed to be on Evo’s side but not all. It was another one of those football atmospheres. I sat next to a few Brits and we were giving it large from the front row. Living the dream as they say.

Dan can now go into his third-round match on Ashe tomorrow against Federer, relax and enjoy. It is certainly not totally impossible that he can go close tomorrow and he himself is talking up his chances. #uptheevo

Then it was over to watch Miomir Kecamanovic v Paolo Lorenzi which caught my eye and was nicely poised at one set all. Again this was a top atmosphere with the Italians in full voice and I’m not going to lie, I got involved. I think Kecmanovic looks a top player and his temperament today was the most impressive thing about him. Barely losing his cool and you would not know what the score was by looking at him. What a gutsy effort from the 38-year old to take out a dude half his age though. Stan Wawrinka on today for him, so no time to rest.

After a few drinks and some food, I couldn’t resist getting myself into the Armstrong to watch the last set and a bit of Coco Gauff against Time Babos. Once again the 15-year-old American impressed in a pressure-cooker atmosphere. To not break at 4-3 in the decider, hold with ease after it and then break for the match tells you all you need to know about her. There is a strong, strong mentality and belief to go after her shots and not just push the ball into play. Naomi Osaka is next.

There were two shocks in the top half. Petra Kvitova lost to Andrea Petkovic, who has been showing signs of some form lately. An even bigger shock for me was Aryna Sabalenka going out to Yulia Putinteva. It would appear there was a bit of a comedown for the Belarussian after taking out Vika. By all accounts this was an error-strewn performance.

Simona Halep loss to Taylor Townsend also came as a big shock. The American came into the forecourt over 100 times in the match. Some stat that! It is great news for Townsend and this is a win that has been coming for a while. She had match points against Bertens at Wimbledon. It is also very refreshing to see someone coming in as often as that. It was a change of tactics that flummoxed the Romanian. Elsewhere, it was a pretty good day for the seeds all in all.

In the men’s, Daniil Medvedev had to get through severe cramping to take out Hugo Dellien in four. The amount of tennis could be catching up on him here. He will also play today against Feli Lopez but will be relieved to see he is last on the Armstrong. In the bottom half Rafa got a walkover as Thanasi Kokkinakis withdrew with a shoulder injury. Diego Schwartzman is quietly sneaking through after another straights sets win over Egor Gerasimov and the same can be said of Nick who beat Antoine Hoang with little trouble. It is an intriguing match against Andrey Rublev tomorrow. Finally, Sascha Zverev had his mandatory five-setter, this time with Frances Tiafoe, he will play Aljaz Bedene next. The Slovenian came from two sets down against Benoit Paire, who after losing picked up his bag and left the court without the handshake. Classic stuff!

Big day with Evo and Rena in action on the Ashe.
Let’s ‘ave it!

Andy Del Potro