Things are getting interesting

Upset of the tournament!@TaylorTownsend downs No. 4 seed Halep 2-6, 6-3, 7-6(4) in the @usopen second round--> https://t.co/lFbe1LXkVu pic.twitter.com/rOZPIxwx3i

— WTA (@WTA) August 29, 2019

 

Where to start?! I suppose with the news that Wimbledon champion and 4th seed Simona Halep is out of the U.S. Open in the second round, defeated by Taylor Townsend, who went into a serve-and-volley frenzy and overcame Halep 2-6, 6-3, 7-6. This was Townsend's first top-10 win, and she was understandably delighted over it.

That was the big news of the day, but there was other news: 15-year-old Coco Gauff defeated a very in-form Timea Babos, 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 in a really thrilling night match. That means that Gauff goes to the third round, in which she will face off against top seed Naomi Osaka. This is beyond popcorn, if I can coin a phrase. Fans of either player (or both players) may need something stronger.

Also news: Alona Ostapenko has advanced to the third round! She defeated Alison Riske in straight sets, and will next face off against either 25th seed Elise Mertens or Andrea Petkovic. Petkovic upset 6th seed Petra Kvitova, which was not really a surprise. (It would have been nice if one of the commentators had mentioned the Czech star's forearm injury, which continues to plague her, instead of just talking about how badly she was playing.)

9th seed Aryna Sabalenka was upset by Yulia Putintseva, and 29th seed Hsieh Su-Wei was upset by Karolina Muchova.

15th seed Bianca Andreescu, playing with a seriously taped thigh, won her second round match against Kirsten Flipkens in straight sets, and she looked pretty impressive doing it. Also advancing were Jo Konta, Donna Vekic, Kiki Bertens, Caroline Wozniacki, Maria Sakkari, and Anett Kontaveit.