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

With the U.S. Open moving into the third round, Friday featured a lighter schedule. It was the biggest day in terms of talent on the courts, though, with every match on the men's side featuring at least one ranked player and two early matches between top-25 players on the women's side.               

Venus Williams has advanced to the fourth round for the first time since reaching the semifinals in 2010 thanks to her straight-sets win over Belinda Bencic. The elder Williams sister beat a top-15 seed in a tournament for the first time since the Miami Open in March.

Men's top seed Novak Djokovic faced his most difficult test so far against Andreas Seppi yet still advanced in straight sets 6-3, 7-5, 7-5. He has not dropped a set through three matches and hasn't lost before the semifinals at the U.S. Open since 2006. That trend looks likely to continue in 2015. 

Defending men's champion Marin Cilic got a fight from Mikhail Kukushkin, needing five sets before securing a spot in the fourth round. The ninth seed has been off all year thanks to early-season shoulder problems, but he's starting to build momentum heading into the second week of action.

Here's a look at what has transpired Friday at the U.S. Open as well as an in-depth recap of the key matches from the third round. For complete scores, visit USOpen.org.

Friday Scores

Men's Result	Score
Women's Result	Score
No. 1 Novak Djokovic def. No. 25 Andreas Seppi	6-3, 7-5, 7-5
No. 9 Marin Cilic def. Mikhail Kukushkin	6-7, 7-6, 6-3, 6-7, 6-1
No. 23 Roberto Bautista Agut def. No. 14 David Goffin	2-6, 5-7, 6-3, 3-1 (Retired)
No. 19 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga def. Sergiy Stakhovsky	6-3, 7-5, 6-2
Benoit Paire def. No. 26 Tommy Robredo	7-6, 6-1, 6-1
No. 23 Venus Williams def. No. 12 Belinda Bencic	6-3, 6-4
No. 13 Ekaterina Makarova def. No. 17 Elina Svitolina	6-3, 7-5
No. 25 Eugenie Bouchard def. Dominika Cibulkova	7-6, 4-6, 6-3
Kristina Mladenovic def. Darya Kasatkina	6-2, 6-3
Roberta Vinci def. Mariana Duque Marino	6-1, 5-7, 6-2
Anett Kontaveit def. Madison Brengle	6-2, 3-6, 6-0

Recap

Coming into the U.S. Open, Bencic was heading in the right direction. The 18-year-old has two tournament wins this season, highlighted by the Rogers Cup three weeks ago, which saw her knock off Serena Williams in the semifinals before beating Simona Halep.

However, Bencic's youth makes her vulnerable against the wrong opponent. She lost in the Western & Southern Open's third round to Lucie Safarova and was knocked off in the third round again today.

Closing is something Bencic needs to work on as she moves forward. The Switzerland native had Venus Williams down 4-1 in the second set before the American star proceeded to win the next five games to close things out.

Williams has historically had Bencic's number, as ESPN Stats & Info pointed out, so it's hard to call this a surprising loss:

While there will be plenty of time for Bencic to become a star, Williams' run at the U.S. Open is becoming one of the tournament's best stories. She will be taking on another teenager in the fourth round, albeit a less-decorated one in 19-year-old Anett Kontaveit. 

After her win, speaking to ESPN's Pam Shriver on the network telecast (via ESPN.com's Greg Garber), Williams was appreciative of the support she received from the crowd. 

"Oh, it's wonderful to be here," Williams said. "I love the game. I love the U.S. Open. I love how everybody got behind me when I was down."

Kontaveit entered the U.S. Open as a qualifier but has won three consecutive matches, including today's win over Madison Brengle. She already has one victory over a ranked opponent this week against Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.

Per Tennis Now, Kontaveit entered Friday's match with a 3-9 career record against players ranked in the top 100. The stage is setting up for a Williams vs. Williams showdown in the quarterfinals, though both sisters have obstacles to overcome before getting there.

Djokovic's win over Seppi was essentially a foregone conclusion before the match started, based on history, per ESPN Stats & Info:

Of course, finding anyone who has been able to defeat Djokovic in 2015 is a difficult task. He's lost just three matches this year to three different players (Andy Murray, Roger Federer, Stan Wawrinka), all in the finals of tournaments.

Cilic's five-set marathon against Kukushkin may have come at a price, as ESPN Stats & Info noted it was the longest match of the tournament so far at four hours, 11 minutes. That's a lot of energy to exhaust at this early stage.

In the third set, Cilic didn't show any signs of fatigue with this huge ace that sealed a 6-3 win, per U.S. Open Tennis:

Opponents have pushed Cilic to the limit in his victories thus far, as the 26-year-old has needed five tiebreakers in his 11 total sets.

Another ranked player on the men's side who continues to play well is Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. The 30-year-old knocked off Sergiy Stakhovsky in three sets, marking his third consecutive straight-sets victory. 

Tsonga has yet to face a ranked opponent, a trend that will continue in the next round when he takes on Benoit Paire. This ties his best run in the U.S. Open, as he reached the fourth round in 2009 and 2014. 

The afternoon session paved the way for a strong crop of evening matches featuring Serena Williams and Rafael Nadal.

With few upsets happening early Friday, it's either going to be a day dominated by chalk or things are set up for a shocker in the evening. Six of the women's top 10 seeds had already been knocked out before today, so no one can afford to rest on her merits with everything on the line.