Upset Update - Friday
Peng Shuai—who beat Aga Radwanska in Round 2—continued her roll on Friday, beating up on 28th seeded Roberta Vinci. Qualifier Mirjana Lucic-Baroni unexpectedly beat 2nd seeded Simona Halep in straight sets. The women's draw was further depleted when talented 17 year-old Belinda Bencic beat 6th seed Angelique Kerber in straights. On the men's side, Frenchman Adrian Mannarino knocked out 15th seeded Fabio Fognini while Marcel Granollers beat Ivo Karlovic in five sets. David Goffin of Belgium pummeled 32nd seeded Joao Sousa in straight sets to advance and Dominic Thiem beat his mentor and practice partner Ernests Gulbis in five.
Upset Update - Saturday
Qualifier Aleksandra Krunic continued to cruise on Saturday, taking out reigning Wimbledon champ, Petra Kvitova, in straight sets. Kaia Kanepi beat up on clay-court specialist and 15th seed Carla Suarez Navarro. Philipp Kohlschreiber dashed American hopes when he knocked out big-serving John Isner in four.
Upset Update - Sunday
In a moderately surprising upset, surging Caroline Wozniacki beat Maria Sharapova in three sets while young Belinda Bencic scored a big win against veteran Jelena Jankovic. On the men's side, Gilles Simon surprisingly wore down David Ferrer in four sets. Gael Monfils beat his countryman Richard Gasquet, while Dominic Thiem continued to play well with a straight sets win over Feliciano Lopez.
Upset Update - Monday
Monday went more to form with only two minor upsets—Kei Nishikori beat Milos Raonic in five and Ekaterina Makarova upset an overcooked Eugenie Bouchard.
WTA Variety
According to the WTA's Kevin Fischer, by the end of the US Open, eight different women will have filled the eight Grand Slam finalist spots. This will be the first time since 1977 that eight different women will contest a Grand Slam final.
Shush
In the first meeting of seeded players, former French Open finalist Sara Errani sent Venus Williams home on Friday in a bizarre 6-0, 0-6, 7-6(5) match. The first set of the match was the first time Venus had been bageled on hard courts since a 2009 US Open match against Kim Clijsters. After finishing off the third set 'breaker to take the match from Venus on Friday, Errani shushed the crowd with a move that would've made any NFL cornerback proud.
Tomic Taps Out
Bernard Tomic, the talented but underachieving Aussie, disappointed again on Friday when he cited a hip injury and withdrew from the tournament ahead of a matchup against David "Little Beast" Ferrer. My gut tells me that Ferrer's consistency and tenacity would have given him a distinct upper hand, but Tomic has enough talent that this match had loads of appeal.
Happy Birthday, Gael
Yesterday was Gael Monfils' birthday and in honor of her friend La Monf, Victoria Azarenka led the Arthur Ashe crowd in a rendition of Happy Birthday. Monfils is back in action today, hoping to celebrate with a win over Grigor Dimitrov.
He Wears Short Shorts
In an attempt to fight off the crippling heat and humidity during his grind-it-out match against Gilles Simon, David Ferrer at one point went with a McEnroe-inspired short shorts look. Unfortunately, it didn't help Ferrer's cause as Simon sent him packing.
David Ferrer is down 3-1 in the third set, but on the bright side his shorts are McEnroe approved ✓ pic.twitter.com/ygHCwD1fBt
— CBS Sports (@CBSSports) August 31, 2014
The Kohlschreiber Kurse
For the third straight year, Philipp Kohlschreiber knocked John Isner out of the US Open in the third round. Isner still leads their head-to-head 4-3, with all three of Kohlschreiber's wins coming in the US Open third round.