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The US Open 2018 is drawing to a close with Nadal setting his eyes on the title, with Del Porto, Djokovic and Nishikori the only 3 who can stop him from doing that. But there have been some upsets in the first two rounds, of which we present the top 5.
#5 (Rd 2) - Joao Sousa (POR) (68) - Pablo Carreno Busta (ESP) (12)
Score: 4-6, 6-3, 5-7, 6-2, 2-0 Retired.
Both players have not played against each other in the last 3 yrs with their last meeting coming way back in 2015. The whole match took place at the baseline with both players matching each other stroke for stroke in an absorbing contest which went for over 3 hours. Busta took the first and the fourth sets while Sousa took the second and dominated Busta in the fourth set to take it 6-2. With the momentum shifting towards Sousa he went on to a quick 2-0 lead in the decider before Busta retired citing an unknown injury.
#4 (Rd 2 ) - Mikhail Kukushkin (KAZ) (84) - Hyeon Chung (KOR) (23)
Score: 7-6, 6-2, 6-3.
Kukushkin just took less than 3 hours to get past World no. 23 Hyeon Chung of Korea in a Round 2 match at the 2018 US Open. Kukushkin had worked really hard as he ran from end to end to retrieve Chung's shots and made 29 winners in the process. Kukushkin converted 2 break point opportunities in game 4 and game 8 of the final set to wrap up the match in style.
#3 (Rd 1) - Jason Kubler (AUS) (98) - Roberto Bautista Agut (ESP) (22)
Score: 6-3, 6-3, 6-4.
Jason Kubler had a comfortable encounter against the fancied Roberto Bautista of Spain as he wrapped up the match in just over two hours. Kubler to his credit had a high percentage of first serves which also fetched him a lot of points. His first serve percentage was 63% and the win percentage of first serves was at 71%.
#2 (Rd 1) - Paolo Lorenzi (ITA) (94) - Kyle Edmund (GBR) (16)
Score: 4-6, 6-4, 7-5, 6-1.
Kyle Edmund's error-filled game with 55 unforced errors aided Lorenzi, who came up with 52 winners, which included 21 aces to wrap up the match in 4 sets. Lorenzi, who lost the first set 4-6, came back to strongly dominate the netplay winning 21 of his 29 attempts. He also won 78% of his points on the first serve and covered 1000 feet more distance than his compatriot to retrieve the balls.
#1 (Rd 1) - Stan Wawrinka (SUI) (101) - Grigor Dimitrov (BUL) (8)
Score: 6-3, 6-2, 7-5.
Wawrinka who is ranked 101 in the world took 2 hours 24 minutes to defeat World no. 8 Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria in straight sets in the first round of the US Open 2018. Wawrinka made excellent use of the 14 break point opportunities he was converting 5 of them, which enabled him to wrap up the match in straight sets. Wawrinka was extremely clinical winning 86% of his points at the net. Dimitrov's 42 unforced errors only paved way for Wawrinka to establish himself firmly in the match.
