US Open: Carlos Alcaraz marches into third round, British hopes still alive

This time the victim was Lloyd Harris, who used to train with Alcaraz when the world number one was 15 at the Juan Carlos Ferrero Academy.

The South African gave Alcaraz a test in the third set but the seemingly unstoppable force still registered a 6-3 6-1 7-6(4) win.

"I think I played a great match from the beginning until the last ball, but if I have to take something from the match I want to keep the level of the second set," said Alcaraz, 20.

"I had to stay focused, stay strong mentally. It was pretty good for me and to win in straight sets is really important in the first rounds."

There was a routine win for sixth seed Jannik Sinner, who beat fellow Italian Lorenzo Sonego 6-4 6-2 6-4.

American ninth seed Taylor Fritz also won in straight sets, coasting past Juan Pablo Varillas of Peru 6-1 6-2 6-2.

Alexander Zverev, seeded 12, won the all-German clash against Daniel Altmaier in four sets and will meet Grigor Dimitrov, the 19th seed who knocked out former champion Andy Murray.

Big-serving American John Isner called time on his career, fittingly enough, in a fifth-set tie-break as he lost his final match to compatriot Michael Mmoh.

Meanwhile, Andy Murray may have been sent packing, but there were sparkling wins for the other three British men at Flushing Meadows

Cameron Norrie, Dan Evans and Jack Draper kept the British flag flying heading into round three at the US Open.

British number one Cameron Norrie fired 15 aces on his way to a 7-5 6-4 6-4 victory over qualifier Hsu Yu-hsiou of Chinese Taipei.

"Honestly, he should have won the first set but I was able to take the momentum into the second set," said the 28-year-old.

"I was really happy with how I played the big points and I'm happy to be through."

Norrie will face world number 61 Matteo Arnaldi of Italy in round three.

Evans, the British number two, came from a set down to beat Dutchman Botic van de Zandschulp 1-6 6-1 6-3 6-3.

It is the sixth time the 33-year-old has reached the third round at Flushing Meadows, although he will have his work cut out to go any further, with defending champion Carlos Alcaraz his next opponent.

Probably most impressive was Draper, who last year was ranked as high as 38 in the world but has endured a torrid 12 months with injuries and had to miss Wimbledon with a shoulder tear.

Now outside the top 100, Draper felt the shoulder again in a warm-up event in the US and feared the worst.

But the issue has cleared up and Draper is yet to drop a set at Flushing Meadows after beating 17th seed Hubert Hurkacz 6-2 6-4 7-5 in the second round.

READ MORE: US Open top seeds Stefanos Tsitsipas and Casper Ruud topple in New York