The men’s singles seeds have triggered upset warnings, with five seeds already eliminated in the second round!

As the US Open progresses into round two, compared to the women’s seeds who faced numerous early departures in round one, the men’s seeds, initially more consistent, have begun to be eliminated en masse, with five players exiting together on the fourth day. Interestingly, all five defeats followed intense five-set matches.

First, the 11th seed Rune was defeated 5-7 in the final set by 35-year-old German veteran Struff, who is ranked 144th.

Although Struff’s ranking has never reached very high levels, he has had occasional standout moments in recent years, with his best achievement being a runner-up finish at the Madrid Masters.

This time, he saved his highlight moment for the US Open. In fact, Rune has never performed well at the US Open; even when he entered as the 4th seed and was unhappy with being assigned to a non-center court, he still exited early in the first round, failing to prove the organizers wrong.

The 12th seed Ruud lost 5-7 in the final set to Belgian dark horse Colyn, ranked 107th.

“Friends walk together through life”—also exiting alongside was the other Nordic Ruud. The former finalist, despite reaching the mixed doubles final again in a warm-up event, surprisingly bowed out in the second round of men’s singles this year. However, considering his average Grand Slam results this year are similar, what can you really say? With such performance, yet still ranked around the top fifteen, it’s hard to tell whether it’s frustration over underachievement or just a sign of the current top players’ collective mediocrity.

The 16th seed Menšík lost in a final-set tiebreak to French qualifier Blanchier, ranked 184th, who had never won a main draw Grand Slam match before this US Open.

The young Czech’s triumph at the Miami Masters earlier this year was dazzling, raising hopes that he might be the next Nadal. Yet, less than half a year later, he’s been exposed, lacking any solid results and now deeply mired in difficulties.

The 18th seed Fucsovics, after leading 3-1 in the final set, lost five consecutive games and was defeated by French veteran Lindeknech, ranked 84th.

The Spaniard missed his chance to claim his first career title in Washington; although he has broken into the seeded ranks at Grand Slams, he still hasn’t learned how to sustain a peak performance period.

The 30th seed Brandon Nakashima lost a final-set tiebreak to Swiss dark horse Käm, ranked 175th, who is playing in the main draw of a Grand Slam for the first time.

As for the lower-ranked seeded American players, who have consistently underperformed at the top level, being upset by dark horses seems understandable.

Although only Draper among the top ten men’s players has withdrawn due to injury—far fewer than the number of women’s players eliminated—upsets remain a threat that must be guarded against!(Source: Tennis Home, Author: Luo Cheng Qiye)