World No. 4 Coco Gauff, No. 18 Alex Eala advance to third round of US Open

The GIST: The third round of the US Open begins in Queens today and time flies when you’re having fun: The next time you hear from us, we’ll be previewing the women’s and men’s singles semis. Cross your fingers the rain delays are done — there’s a lot of tennis to play.

💪 Yesterday’s second-round matches were mostly chalk, but not without upsets: On the women’s side, world No. 2 Elena Rybakina, No. 4 Coco Gauff, and No. 18 Alex Eala were victorious, much like No. 2 Alexander Zverev, No. 10 Taylor Fritz, and No. 15 Learner Tien (who ousted veteran Gaël Monfils in his final major) on the men’s side.

• Elsewhere, No. 4 Félix Auger-Aliassime is heading home early after struggling physically in yesterday’s loss to qualifier Karen Khachanov, a particularly stunning defeat after the Canadian’s semis run last year.

📺 The weekend lineup is jam-packed with starpower: Cross-border rivalries reign supreme in both the women’s and men’s singles tourney today. American No. 3 Jess Pegula takes on Canadian No. 33 Leylah Fernandez at 11:30 a.m. ET, before No. 9 Ben Shelton faces No. 48 Denis Shapovalov in the night session at 8:10 p.m. ET.

• And the US Open also saved one of the most-anticipated matches for Friday night. After yesterday’s rain delay, 14-time Grand Slam doubles champs Venus and Serena Williams make their grand return to the majors, going up against Maya Joint and Chan Hao-ching at 7 p.m. ET. So seated.