US Open Tennis 2012 Results: Highlights and Analysis of Day 3 Matches

It may only be the first round of the U.S. Open, but the action was far from lacking on Wednesday at Flushing Meadows. 

The women's No. 1 seed, Victoria Azarenka was in action. There were upsets. There were near upsets. There were thrilling comebacks.

What's not to like?

Let's take a a closer look at what exactly went down on Day 3. 

Scores

For a complete look at all the scores from Wednesday's action, check out USOpen.org. What follows is a look at the more notable matches. 

Victoria Azarenka (1) defeated Kirsten Flipkens 6-2, 6-2

John Isner (9) defeated Xavier Malisse 6-3, 7-6 (5), 5-7, 7-6 (9)

Laura Robson defeated Kim Clijsters (23) 7-6 (4), 7-6 (5)

Maria Sharapova (3) defeated Lourdes Dominguez Lino 6-0, 6-1

David Ferrer (4) defeated Kevin Anderson 6-4, 6-2, 7-6 (3)

Petra Kvitova (5) defeated Alize Cornet 6-4, 6-3

Juan Martin Del Potro (7) defeated Florent Serra 6-4, 7-6 (4), 6-4

Samantha Stosur (7) defeated Edina Gallovits-Hall 6-3, 6-0

Janko Tipsarevic (8) defeated Guillaume Rufin 4-6, 3-6, 6-2, 6-3, 6-2

Na Li (9) defeated Casey Dellacqua 6-4, 6-4

Tipsarevic's Epic Comeback

Talk about a tale of two completely different matches.

No. 8 Janko Tipsarevic looked like he was on the verge of falling victim to a first-round upset at the hands of Frenchman Guillaume Rufin.

The World No. 130 broke Tipsarevic four times in the first two sets, jumping out to a commanding lead. Tipsarevic had 14 winners and 19 unforced errors in those two sets.

Then something finally clicked. 

Rufin failed to break Tipsarevic in the next three sets (he didn't even have a break point until the fifth set) as the Serb rolled 6-2, 6-3, 6-2 for an impressive comeback victory. In those final three sets, he tallied 33 winners and just 13 unforced errors.

Tipsarevic better keep playing like those final three sets, otherwise he may see an early exit. 

John Isner Survives

Isner is a popular sleeper pick, but at times he looked asleep. The American survived the first round, it just wasn't always pretty. He dropped the third set and needed a tiebreak in two others to advance. 

The 27-year-old giant's main strength is obvious: He serves the ball down opponents' throats. Because he is so reliant on that powerful serve, however, Isner can't really afford to be broken all that often. 

On Wednesday, Xavier Malisse broke him twice, which made it difficult for Isner to pull away in the match. 

Upsets

Remember when Kim Clijsters was the world No. 1? No? Oh, well remember when she won the U.S. Open twice in a row and three times overall? 

That didn't happen too long ago, but after Wednesday's performance, it might be hard to believe she was ever on top of the world.

Clijsters went to two tiebreaks with 18-year-old Laura Robson and lost them both. The Australian-born Brit made it to the second round last year in New York in her first ever U.S. Open, but this was a surprising result nonetheless. 

The men weren't safe, either. 

Tommy Haas, a former world No. 2 and current No. 21 seed, couldn't get past 23-year-old Ernests Gulbis.

Haas won the first two sets, but simply ran out of energy against the young Latvian, who went 6-4, 7-5, 6-3 to pull the slight upset. That's a nice birthday present for Gulbis, who turns 24 on Thursday.

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