The world’s best tennis players will face one another over the next fortnight with the US Open trophy at stake. On Wednesday evening, however, they banded together for a Tennis Plays For Peace exhibition in support of Ukrainian humanitarian relief.

Rafael Nadal, Iga Swiatek, Coco Gauff, John McEnroe and many more stars thrilled a packed Louis Armstrong Stadium for two hours of tennis to raise money for those suffering in Ukraine, with recently retired Ukrainian players Sergiy Stakhovsky and Olga Savchuk in attendance.

“[It has been a] very tough couple of years in terms of [the] pandemic, now with the war,” Nadal said. “Excited to be back of course, always a pleasure to play in New York and in front of probably the best crowd of the world.”

After an opening ceremony featuring Stakhovsky, Savchuk and host Patrick McEnroe, the Ukrainian national anthem was performed and Nadal took the court for a mixed doubles match alongside Swiatek against Gauff and McEnroe.

“Being on the court with John, Rafa and Iga, World No. 1, it’s really crazy here in New York,” Gauff said. “I’m happy that I’m able to do it for this cause and you guys all know me, I like to speak out when it’s right. I’m glad that I was able to be a part of this.”

^{Savchuk and Stakhovsky chat with Nadal and Swiatek during the exhibition.}
Swiatek snuck in a joke about ‘Coach Rafa’: “On the last point [he] told me that John is going to serve wide and he was wrong. He’s wrong sometimes, wow!” she said as Nadal laughed. Swiatek has previously held her own charity event in support of Ukrainian children. The World No. 1 was happy to spend her time for the cause again.

“I’m pretty happy that we are united and that we as public persons and athletes are doing so much. For sure the event that I did in Poland was a great experience for me. That was the first event that gained so much attention in tennis in Poland,” Swiatek said. “I’m pretty happy that we raised so much money for kids in Ukraine, mostly because their lives have changed and it’s right next to my country, so I was pretty emotional and pretty happy that I can use my sport that way and that we’re doing this today. It’s great.”

McEnroe, who also ironically spent time as the chair umpire later in the event, grew up 15 minutes from Flushing Meadows. The former World No. 1 thanked the crowd for their support.

“I just want to say for this event, we’re all a fraternity, the tennis players. We’re pulling for each other,” McEnroe reflected. “Obviously we all want peace and hopefully this will do something towards helping the situation over in Ukraine.”

All matches during the event were tie-breaks with the winning team being the first to 10. Americans Jessica Pegula and Ben Shelton faced Canadians Felix Auger-Aliassime and Leylah Fernandez (with John McEnroe in the chair), Italian Matteo Berrettini and Ukrainian Katarina Zavatsksa played Greeks Maria Sakkari and Stefanos Tsitsipas, Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz and American Frances Tiafoe took on Americans Taylor Fritz and Tommy Paul, and Tiafoe stayed on the court to partner Ukrainian Dayana Yastremska against American Sebastian Korda and Ukrainian Daria Snigur.

While these were exhibition matches — at one point Paul used a giant tennis racquet, drawing roars from the crowd — the stakes were raised. Before Sakkari served to Berrettini, Tsitsipas said he would donate $10,000 if the Italian missed the return. Berrettini missed it, and Tsitsipas happily reaffirmed his donation.

All proceeds from the event will benefit Global Giving’s Ukraine Crisis Relief Fund. The USTA has previously announced that it expects to raise at least $2 million for the cause during the US Open.

Jack Draper has lived up to his billing as the 13th seed in his Winston-Salem Open debut by beating two big-name players who have spent a large chunk of their ATP Tour careers playing with a number next to their name on the draw sheet.

After a three-set victory against Fabio Fognini, the #NextGenATP Briton overwhelmed Dominic Thiem in a 6-1, 6-4 Wednesday win to reach the quarter-finals at the ATP 250. It’s Draper’s third quarter-final of the season after runs to the Eastbourne semis and the Montreal quarter-finals.

“I was really good behind serve, really solid,” he said post-match. “In the second set it was tough because he was coming up with some amazing shots. It was a real honour to be on court with Dominic. He’s an amazing player.”

In his first ATP Head2Head meeting with Thiem, the 20-year-old raced to a 5-0 lead in the opening set and did not face a break point in the 80-minute match. The Austrian picked up his aggression in the second set, approaching the net 12 times, but also hit six double faults as he took more risk on his delivery. 

“I started confidently, I started well,” said Draper. “I was hitting through the ball, felt good in the conditions. It was a difficult start because I felt like everyone was supporting Dominic and I knew that I needed to come out confidently and sharp, and that’s what I did.”

Thiem saved two break points at 2-2 in the second set and another at 3-3 but Draper’s pressure told in the ninth game of the match. Despite two roped returns from Thiem to create a 15/30 opening, the Briton held his nerve to close it out without further drama.

Finishing a clean performance with 10 winners and four unforced errors, Draper next faces the winner of the stadium court evening finale between 11th seed Ilya Ivashka and Marc-Andrea Huesler.

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Fourth seed Maxime Cressy and 14th seed Lorenzo Sonego contested Wednesday’s most dramatic match, with the American owning the tie-breaks in a 6-7(4), 6-2, 7-6(3) win. Cressy was broken just once in the match on the only break point against him as he surrendered an early lead in the deciding set. But he did not drop a point on serve in the deciding tie-break after dropping just one service point in the opening tie-break.

Cressy will meet Adrian Mannarino in the quarter-finals after the Frenchman’s 6-3, 6-3 upset against eighth seed Albert Ramos-Vinolas.

Second seed Botic van de Zandschulp continued his efficient march through the Winston-Salem draw with a 6-3, 6-3 win against 15th seed Jaume Munar. He has not dropped a set in two matches this week and will look to extend that streak against 10th seed Benjamin Bonzi, a 7-5, 6-2 winner against Thiago Monteiro.

Both Richard Gasquet and Laslo Djere have required a deciding set in all three of their wins this week and will now meet each other in a quarter-final that will test the fitness of both men. Gasquet’s latest three-set win was a 6-7(3), 6-4, 6-3 decision against American Steve Johnson, while Djere was a 7-6(4), 6-7(9), 6-3 winner against Jason Kubler.

Gilles Simon’s Grand Slam career lives on for at least another day thanks to yet another heroic comeback by the Frenchman in Wednesday’s US Open qualifying action.

After his memorable five-set win against Pablo Carreno Busta in his farewell Roland Garros, the Frenchman made an even greater escape in a 2-6, 7-5, 6-1 win against home favourite Michael Mmoh. Down a double break at 2-5 in the second, Simon raised his level with his back against the wall as he won 11 of the final 12 games at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.

Simon, who is set to retire after the 2022 season, used an efficient performance on return to complete the turnaround, converting on six of seven break chances after failing to create a look in the opening set. The 37-year-old denied Mmoh on two attempts at serving out the match at both 5-2 and 5-4 in the middle set.

He will continue to play for his 15th US Open main-draw appearance in a Thursday meeting with Matteo Arnaldi in the second of three qualifying rounds. The #NextGenATP Italian was a 6-2, 2-6, 6-2 winner against 24th seed Ryan Peniston in the opening round.

Sealed with an ace and a big 😁 pic.twitter.com/2fDUf3710M

— US Open Tennis (@usopen) August 24, 2022

Max Purcell, already a Grand Slam champion this season after his Wimbledon doubles triumph alongside fellow Aussie Matthew Ebden, made a strong start in his bid to qualify for a second straight major singles draw. (He earned his way into the Wimbledon singles draw before losing a five-set first-round match to Adrian Mannarino.)

The 24-year-old was a 6-0, 6-4 winner against Serbia’s Nikola Milojevic. He will next face second seed Daniel Elahi Galan, a 6-3, 6-2 winner against #NextGenATP Italian Luciano Darderi.

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Two-time US Open quarter-finalist Fernando Verdasco also advanced on Wednesday as he seeks his 18th main-draw appearance in New York and his first since 2019. The Spaniard downed Italy’s Gianluca Mager 7-6(5), 6-3.

Popular Belgian Zizou Bergs was also among the winners after he scored a tidy 6-2, 6-4 result against Argentina’s Renzo Olivo, saving all four break points against him.

In the day’s biggest upset, Portugal’s Pedro Sousa dismissed third seed Henri Laaksonen 7-5, 6-2.

In his first match since his breakthrough quarter-final run at the Montreal ATP Masters 1000, #NextGenATP Briton Jack Draper claimed another statement win on Tuesday at the Winston-Salem Open.

The 20-year-old outlasted Fabio Fognini 6-2, 4-6, 6-1 to set up a third-round showdown with Dominic Thiem, who moved past top seed Grigor Dimitrov after the Bulgarian’s second-set retirement.

Draper, seeded 13th, ran out to a 5-0 lead in the final set, but had to save seven break points in doing so. After he escaped 15/40 in the set’s opening game, he erased five break chances in a five-deuce fifth game, the longest of the two-hour match. The Briton saved 10 of 13 break points in the contest while breaking on six of 10 chances on return.

Entering the week at a career-high of No. 55 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings, Draper moved up three places in the Live Rankings to No. 52 following his opening victory. He could enter the Top 40 by winning his first tour-level title this week.

After saving two match point against J.J. Wolf on Monday night, Thiem made a sluggish start against Dimitrov before finding his legs in the second set. But as the Austrian raised his game, his opponent faded physically and was ultimately forced to retire while leading 6-0, 2-4.

“The most important [thing] today is that Grigor gets well very soon again,” Thiem said post-match. “The match is not the priority; that’s never the way I want to win a match, especially against Grigor.”

🇦🇹 @domithiem advances to the next round at the #WSOpen after Grigor Dimitrov is forced to retire.

That hug says it all 😞@WSOpen pic.twitter.com/v2ji39bw8i

— ATP Tour (@atptour) August 24, 2022

After failing to conver from 0/40 in the opening game of the match, Thiem lost seven straight games before a love service hold got him back on track in the second set.

“Playing-wise it was very tough in the first set,” he said. “I had a good start actually, and then he somehow broke and it was really difficult.

“I could pick up a little bit my intensity better [in the second set].Yesterday was really tough, over three hours. I finished late, I got to bed at 3:30 and then it was not easy to get the intensity straight up again. It’s very humid, you lose a lot of liquid here, a lot of sweat. So that’s tough and I was not able to have my intensity straight away, but in the second set it got a little bit better.”

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Second seed Botic van de Zandschulp closed play on the stadium court with a 7-6(5), 6-3 win against fellow Dutchman Tallon Griekspoor. He will next face 15th seed Jaume Munar, a 6-3, 6-4 winner against Tseng Chun-Hsin.

Other seeded players to advance included Maxime Cressy, Albert Ramos-Vinolas, Benjamin Bonzi and Ilya Ivashka. Laslo Djere upset 19th seed Joao Sousa in dramatic fashion, 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(5).

China’s Wu Yibing translated his red-hot form on the ATP Challenger Tour into a debut victory in Grand Slam qualifying on Tuesday at the US Open. 

The 2017 US Open boys’ singles champ and former junior World No. 1 earned a 6-4, 6-3 win against 18th seed Ricardas Berankis to move within two victories of his maiden main-draw appearance at a major. 

The 22-year-old was an efficient three of four on break point opportunities while saving six of seven break points against him in the match. He will next face Italy’s Stefano Travaglia, a 6-3, 6-4 winner against Michael Geerts.

Travaglia was one of seven Italian men to advance on Day 1 of the US Open Qualifying Tournament, led by 10th seed Franco Agamenone. The 29-year-old Agamenone hit seven aces in a 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 win against Argentina’s Francisco Comesana.

Fourth seed Camilo Ugo Carabelli lost 7-5, 6-3 to Turkey’s Altug Celikbilek, while fifth seed Juan Pablo Varillas was upset 6-2, 6-2 by France’s Gregoire Barrere.

Five Americans advanced, including Bjorn Fratangelo, Christopher Eubanks, Brandon Holt, Zachary Svajda and Ethan Quinn. Both Fratangelo and Holt secured victory in a third-set tie-break, with Fratangelo edging Argentina’s Juan Bautista Torres 7-6(4), 3-6, 7-6(10-4) and Holt downing France’s Alexandre Muller 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(10-5).