qualifying

Britons Jacob Fearnley, Toby Samuel, Harry Wendelken and Harriet Dart stand one win away from a place in the US Open main draw after coming through their second round qualifying matches in New York.

Fearnley showed great resilience in battling to a three-set victory over Frenchman Luka Pavlovic, which set up a meeting with Austria’s Jurij Rodionov.

The 25-year-old world number 100 recovered from a break of serve down to take the opening set, and held his nerve in the decider after his opponent levelled the match to clinch a 6-4 6-7 (4-7) 6-4 win.

Samuel, bidding to qualify for the US Open for the first time, produced a comeback victory against fellow Briton Billy Harris.

The 23-year-old, who made his slam debut at this year’s French Open, recovered to win 4-6 6-4 6-1 and set up a meeting with Chile’s former top-20 player Cristian Garin.

Wendelken, who has never contested the main draw at an overseas slam, saved a match point to come through a three-hour tussle with Switzerland’s Remy Bertola.

The 24-year-old, ranked 196th, appeared on the brink of elimination at a set and 5-2 down, but denied Bertola a match point to level at 5-5 before edging the second-set tie-break.

Wendelken took charge of the decider, establishing a 5-2 lead, but was forced to withstand a late fightback from his opponent before eventually clinching a 5-7 7-6 (7-4) 6-4 win. He will face Lithuania’s Vilius Gaubas next.

Britons Harriet Dart and Fran Jones both made winning starts to their bids to reach the US Open singles main draw.

Dart, who has twice reached the US Open second round, came through 6-0 6-7 (1-7) 6-1 against Jordyn Hazelitt in the first round of qualifying in New York.

She will face another American 16-year-old, Kristina Penickova, next.

Jones, who qualified for the US Open for the first time last year, will face Germany’s Mona Barthel after winning 6-3 6-4 against Italy’s Nuria Brancaccio.

But Jodie Burrage lost to Spain’s Guiomar Maristany 7-6 (7-1) 6-4, while Henry Searle was beaten 6-1 6-2 by American 16-year-old Michael Antonius in the men’s event.

Antonius will face former US Open finalist Kei Nishikori in the second qualifying round, after the Japanese 36-year-old battled to a 6-1 2-6 6-2 win over Austrian Sebastian Ofner.

Former US Open semi-finalist Grigor Dimitrov will face Kazakhstan’s Timofey Skatov in his second qualifying match after dismissing Italy’s Lorenzo Giustino 6-0 6-3.

In the women’s draw, 2019 US Open winner Bianca Andreescu progressed with a 6-1 6-2 win against Dutch player Eva Vedder.

Heather Watson resumes her qualifying campaign with a second-round match against Spain’s Angela Fita Boluda on Wednesday.

In the men’s draw, Britons Jacob Fearnley, Toby Samuel, Billy Harris, Harry Wendelken and Jack Pinnington Jones all return to action seeking to move one win away from the Flushing Meadows main draw.

Players must come through three rounds of qualifying to reach the singles main draw, which gets under way on Sunday.

Elsewhere, Britain’s Arthur Fery warmed up for the US Open with a 6-1 7-5 victory over Cruz Hewitt at the Winston-Salem Open.

Fery, playing just his third match since his stunning run to the Wimbledon semi-finals, came back from 4-1 down in the second set to advance.

The fourth seed will play either Czech Tomas Machac or Dutch qualifier Mees Rottgering next.

In the mixed doubles competition, Britons Henry Patten and Lloyd Glasspool will both seek to beat some of the sport’s biggest stars after coming through two qualifying matches on Monday.

The US Open mixed doubles was controversially revamped last year to include singles stars in a bid to attract more attention to the format.

Under the new format, the top six pairs with the best combined singles rankings received direct entry into the main draw, with another eight receiving wildcards.

The tournament now takes place over three days in the week before the main draw began, and features a shorter scoring system with only four games required to win a set in matches before the final, no ‘advantage’ scoring and 10-point match tie-breaks instead of a third set throughout.

Both Patten and Glasspool had to come through qualifying with their respective partners on Monday.

Patten, a two-time winner of the men’s doubles competition at Wimbledon, and Czech team-mate Katerina Siniakova defeated Americans Peyton Stearns and Christian Harrison in straight sets in their second qualifying match.

Next, Patten and Siniakova – the respective men’s and women’s world number ones in doubles – will take on 24-time major winner Novak Djokovic and top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka in the first round of the main draw.

After defeating El Salvador’s Marcelo Arevalo and France’s Kristina Mladenovic, Glasspool and New Zealand’s Erin Routliffe will face 23-time Grand Slam singles champion Serena Williams and seven-time major winner Carlos Alcaraz.

Alcaraz will be playing his first match in four months after recovering from a wrist injury, while Williams is making her return to the sport after a four-year absence.

A competitor has died following a crash involving two riders during qualifying for the Manx Grand Prix on the Isle of Man.

The session was red-flagged at about 18:50 BST following the incident at Cruickshanks, in Ramsey, on the opening lap of Tuesday evening’s session.

Organisers said the other competitor involved had suffered minor injuries and was being treated at the island’s main hospital, Noble’s. The riders have not been named.

The road between Ramsey Bus Station and Lheaney Road in Ramsey remained closed for more than three hours after the crash.

In a statement, organisers said: “It’s with profound sadness that the Manx Grand Prix Races confirms that one competitor sustained fatal injuries.

“In accordance with the event’s standard operating procedures, a multi-agency investigative process is now underway.

“Our thoughts are with the competitors, family and friends of those involved, who have asked for privacy at this time.”

Tuesday marked the second day of qualifying for the 2026 Manx Grand Prix (MGP) and Classic TT following the cancellation of Monday’s sessions because of rain showers.

Sunday’s opening session was cut short following a red-flag incident that saw Italian rider Salvatore Sallustro taken to hospital for treatment and a later deterioration of the weather.

Qualifying for the MGP, which runs in parallel with the Classic TT on the 37.7 mile (61km) Mountain Course, is scheduled to take place daily until Saturday, followed by racing in the two events until 28 August.