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Andy Murray was practicing on grandstand (new) with the NCAA ace Thai Son Kwiatkowski. Murray was accompanied by Ivan Lendl and Jamie Delgado but did not appear to be moving well at all. Limping quite clearly between points and on his walks to the chair for breaks. All the long, physical matches with the 30-year-old who turned pro in 2005. Usually Murray has fun in these type of practices, smiling and engaging with his practice mate but I saw none of that yesterday. Murray looked good but I don’t see him being a factor in this tournament.

Maria Sharapova practiced on the same court earlier in the day and she too looked like an aging veteran not really enjoying her day. It was all business. Coach Sven Groenveld was feeding her balls to both wings and she was ripping her shots. Then after a break she started serving, very slowly at first and then eventually into playing points out. Nick Bollettieri was there in the second row and then he changed his seat to get a closer view by entering the court and sitting on the rim of the first row, near the net post , closer to Maria who was serving on the far side.

It looked like Nick was trying to get the attention of his old protege who first moved to Florida and trained at his renowned academy as a young teen. But Maria was too all-business and serious to stop her practice to go over and say hi or hug Nick. She surely saw him but even when she went to the chair to break, she went straight to the chair and ignored Nick’s presence. Maria is all business and still serious about her tennis. She was working hard and even grunting on some points. We left the pretty full but very quiet new grandstand, where the crowd was respectful for Maria, clapping for her after some nice points. I talked with Nick later and he said Maria gave him a copy of her book.

The most emotional win of the day was by Vicky Duval, who was down a set and 4-1 to China’s Yifan Wang but battled all the way back to win 26 64 64. The always-smiling now 21-year-old who famously upset Sam Stosur here a few years ago and has overcome cancer was overjoyed with the dramatic win in front of a packed house on court 6.

Su-Wei Hsieh had a much easier time beating Hradecka 62 61 after her 76 in the third win in round one vs Chen. The 31-year-old legend, who has played eleven US Opens, again greeted her many fans after the match. Hsieh is a former world no. 1 doubles player with a French Open and Wimbledon titles in her collection. She is still competitive in singles, with a nice third round run in Paris this year.

Frank Dancevic turns 33 later this month but he’s showing signs that he has plenty of gas left in his tank. Frank the Tank took down Stefane Robert 63 67 75. Frank is hoping to win one more match in Q round three to earn his sixth career US Open main draw, where he he once got to the second round (2013). I still remember seeing Frank lose a heartbreaker here a couple of years ago in qualies round three to Joao Sousa 76 in the third and Frank was so beaten up that he walked barefoot back to the locker room, slower than a 90-year-old man.

John Isner had better hope Peter Gojowyczk does not qualify and land in his section of the draw. Gojo has an uncanny service return and has beaten Ivo Karlovic in Newport this year and also yesterday he slayed Reilly Opelka 76 62.

Remember Alexa Glatch? She reached the second round of the main draw here in 2005 as a fifteen year old but lost yesterday in the Q second round as a 27-ear-old to 28-year-old Colombian Mariana Duque Marino 64 63.

25-year-old veteran Evan King (pictured above) is playing his first US Open. The Chicago lefty and former Michigan Wolverine lost the first set to Renzo Olivo but fought back for a 36 61 60 win. King was playing Futures last year and earlier this year and now he’s one match away from his first grand slam main draw. Today’s opponent: US teenager Michael Mmoh.

Allie Kiick vs Vicky Duval, Hsieh vs Kaia Kanepi, JC Aragone vs Akira Santillan, Smyczek vs Polansky, Stefano Tsitsipas vs Nicolas Mahut all will face off today for main draw slots.

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