U.S. Open Day 3 After Dark: Muguruza upset, Nadal beats Seppi under Ashe roof

See all of Wednesdsay evening's results and notes from the U.S. Open—including the closing of the Arthur Ashe Stadium retractable roof during a match for the first time.

Author:
Stanley Kay
Publish date:
Aug 31, 2016

Hours after No. 5 Milos Raonic crashed out of the U.S. Open men's draw, women's No. 3 seed Garbine Muguruza was upset by Anastasija Sevastova in the second round.

Muguruza, who won the French Open in June, was flat on Wednesday night as Sevastova prevailed 7-5, 6-4.

In the night session finale, Rafael Nadal beat Andreas Seppi in three sets, 6-0, 7-5, 6-1. The match also made history: For the first time, a U.S. Open match was played indoors after the Arthur Ashe Stadium retractable roof was activated during the second set.

Earlier, Madison Keys cruised to the third round, while Lucas Pouille won a five-set marathon over Marco Chiudinelli after trailing two sets to love. See a complete recap of this evening's action below.

For a look at Wednesday's day session, check out SI.com's Day 3 recap.

Results Roundup

Anastasija Sevastova d. No. 3 Garbine Muguruza: The upset of the tournament so far on the women’s side came on Wednesday night, as the reigning French Open champion exited the U.S. Open in the second round. Sevastova ousted Muguruza with a 7-5, 6-4 win at Arthur Ashe Stadium.

Despite winning five of six break points, Muguruza was let down by her own serve—as she failed to hold serve in seven games over the two sets.

"I think it was a very tough match," Muguruza told reporters after the match. "I think I didn't play well today. I think she also played well. Everything she was doing was working. Maybe at the last part of the match I could feel like I could have a chance to come back, but, in fact, it was like 50/50. So at the end she played well, and that's it."

Since winning the French Open, Muguruza has lost in the second round of both Wimbledon and the U.S. Open. She also lost earlier than most expected at Rio 2016.

Muguruza has never reached the third round of the U.S. Open in four main draw appearances.

U.S. Open Day 3: Monfils still wows but shows maturity in straight-sets win

No. 4 Rafael Nadal d. Andreas Seppi: Sure there was a match but there was also a ROOF. The big news of Wednesday night's finale was probably that Nadal advanced in straight sets and looked scary good in the process, but let's talk about the roof for a second. Thanks to the USTA, we know the exact moment (nay, second) play was suspended due to rain: 10:38:58 p.m. ET. Where were you at that moment? You'll probably always remember.

So here's the recap of what happened next: The roof closed in five minutes and 35 seconds. Nice! Play was suspended for a total of seven minutes and 22 seconds. The crowd went wild.

Here's a video of the big moment.

No. 8 Madison Keys d. Kayla Day: There were no jitters this time around for Madison Keys. After an upset scare in her opening match on Monday, Keys steamrolled her way to the third round, beating 16-year-old Kayla Day 6-1, 6-1 in less than an hour. The first set lasted only 18 minutes.

Keys won 23 of 24 points (96%) on which her first serve went in play.

Catherine Bellis d. Shelby Rogers: Bellis, 17, beat her fellow American 2-6, 6-2, 6-2 to reach the third round, where she'll face No. 2 seed Angelique Kerber. Bellis is two years removed from her memorable first–round U.S. Open victory over defending 2014 Australian Open runner-up Dominika Cibulkova.

So here's the thing about this match. In July, Bellis committed to play tennis at Stanford, meaning that she can't accept prize money in order to maintain collegiate eligibility. After winning two matches, she is forfeiting $140,000 to play for the Cardinal.

No. 7 Marin Cilic d. Sergiy Stakhovsky: 6-1, 6-2, 6-3.

No. 15 Roberto Bautista Agut d. Federico Delbonis: 5-7, 6-2, 6-3, 6-2

No. 24 Lucas Pouille d. Marco Chiudinelli: 4-6, 3-6, 7-6(6), 6-2, 6-0