US Open Tennis 2015 Results: Early Thursday Results, Highlights and Scores

The fourth day of action at the U.S. Open began with a loaded schedule in the afternoon session that featured Andy Murray, Stan Wawrinka, John Isner and Simona Halep in action. 

There was almost a massive upset on the men's side, as Murray waited to fall two sets behind Adrian Mannarino before kicking things into gear. The No. 3 seed needed all five sets to advance, knocking off the Frenchman 5-7, 4-6, 6-1, 6-3, 6-1. 

The biggest story from the early matches, which has become a running theme so far, is a top-10 women's player exiting. Garbine Muguruza, who was the No. 9 seed, was knocked out in three sets by Johanna Konta.    

Between Maria Sharapova's pre-tournament injury and losses in the first three days, Muguruza's defeat means six of the top 10 seeds have lost in the first four days.

That's good news for contenders outside the top tier, such as Belinda Bencic and Ekaterina Makarova, to advance deeper into the tournament than they otherwise might have been able to. 

Here's a look at the key results from Thursday's afternoon session at the U.S. Open as well as a detailed recap of how things transpired. For a full list of scores visit USOpen.org.

Thursday Results

Men's Result	Score
Women's Result	Score
No. 3 Andy Murray def. Adrian Mannarino	5-7, 4-6, 6-1, 6-3, 6-1
No. 5 Stan Wawrinka def. Hyeon Chung	7-6, 7-6, 7-6
No. 13 John Isner def. Mikhail Youzhny	6-3, 6-4, 6-4
Jiri Vesely def. No. 21 Ivo Karlovic	7-6, 3-6, 3-6, 6-2, 7-6
Ruben Bemelmans def. No. 28 Jack Sock	4-6, 4-6, 6-3, 2-1 (Retired)
No. 30 Thomaz Bellucci def. Yoshihito Nishioka	6-0, 6-3, 6-4
No. 31 Guillermo Garcia-Lopez def. Nicolas Mahut	6-4, 6-2, 6-7, 6-1
No. 2 Simona Halep def. Kateryna Bondarenko	6-3, 6-4
Johanna Konta def. No. 9 Garbine Muguruza	7-6, 6-7, 6-2
No. 11 Angelique Kerber def. Karin Knapp	7-5, 6-2
No. 16 Sara Errani def. Jelena Ostapenko	0-6, 6-4, 6-3
No. 18 Andrea Petkovic def. Elena Vesnina	6-3, 7-6
No. 20 Victoria Azarenka def. Yanina Wickmayer	7-5, 6-4
No. 22 Samantha Stosur def. Evgeniya Rodina	6-1, 6-1

Recap

It's amazing the shift that Murray pulled off in his win over Mannarino. He wasn't overmatched, firing 13 aces with no double-faults in the first two sets, but converted just one of his eight break-point opportunities. Mannarino was 3-of-7 on break points. 

Things were so dire for Murray after the second set that actor Rob Lowe made an astute observation on Twitter:

In the last three sets, the script was reversed. Murray kept dominating on the serve with eight aces, but he backed it up with six break points won and shut out Mannarino. 

Murray made sure to put an exclamation point on his comeback win, per U.S. Open Tennis:

Even though Murray did struggle on Thursday, ESPN Stats & Info pointed out the last time he needed to come back from two sets down was in the 2013 Wimbledon quarterfinals en route to winning the championship.

On the women's side, Muguruza has been playing well this year, even reaching the finals at Wimbledon before running into the steamroller that is Serena Williams, but Konta has had her number in 2015.

Here's how things ended on Thursday, per U.S. Open Tennis on Twitter:

The two previously met in the third round of the AEGON International in June, with Konta winning that match in three sets.

Thursday's match was also a record-setter, per Ben Rothenberg of the New York Times:

Konta seems to have the right mindset heading into a match against a more decorated opponent who is near the top of the world rankings based on her comments after the win, per the Guardian's Kevin Mitchell:

"

She didn’t have her best day but she’s an incredible fighter. I had to fight for each point, it wasn’t given to me. You don’t think of top-10 players as any different, because then you’ve already lost. I came out here to give my best but humble to know she could beat me. I’ll enjoy this and refocus. I’m so humbled by the amount of support I’m getting here.

"

The good news for Konta is she won't have to worry about facing a top-10 player again in the third round when she takes on No. 18 Andrea Petkovic. 

One women's player who didn't have to worry about an upset was Halep, who breezed through her match with Kateryna Bondarenko in straight sets. 

Per U.S. Open Tennis stats, Halep was able to convert all four of her break-point chances in the victory. She's yet to be tested through two matches, which is actually a big deal now based on how other highly ranked players are performing. 

Another highly ranked player who got a nice win in the second round was Wawrinka, though it wasn't easy. The No. 5 seed needed three tiebreakers to defeat Hyeon Chung to secure a spot in the next round against Ruben Bemelmans. 

Serving was the key for Wawrinka's win, as he fired 26 aces and limited Chung to three. He won the second set with a huge serve that didn't fall in the ace category, though it was still impressive, per U.S. Open Tennis:

Wawrinka is just outside the top four in the world rankings, but he's clearly put himself in the Big Four that currently includes Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and Andy Murray. Rafael Nadal has fallen out of that group because of injuries. 

There's an argument to be made Wawrinka has a claim as the world's No. 2 player since he's won one major each of the last two years, is going for a second one in 2015 (French Open) and has defeated Djokovic in two of the past three Grand Slam events they've met. 

Considering the struggles Murray had today, the door is wide-open for Wawrinka to reach his first U.S. Open final. 

While there is a long road left for all the winners to travel before thinking of a championship, the foundation is laid in these early rounds. Some players have lived up to their billing, while others look off their mark. 

Looking ahead, the players who can end things early and save energy for the later rounds, when the opposition gets considerably harder, are going to be the ones battling for the U.S. Open title. Wawrinka and Halep are safe bets right now, while Murray has to right the ship in a hurry.