US sets attendance record
The US Open set a record on Friday for daily attendance: 65,286 fans. The US Tennis Association says that combines day and night sessions that each set new marks. The 40,280 dayside fans topped the previous record of 38,780 set twice over labor Day weekend in 2014. And the night mark of 25,006 beat out the 24,991 set last Sept. 11. Attendance has been helped this year by a new, 8,000-seat Grandstand stadium. And Friday's sunny weather with highs in the low 80s didn't hurt, either.
Serve clocks to be used
Serve clocks will be used at the US Open for the first time during junior and college matches. US Tennis Association official Stacey Allaster says Friday that this is a test of the technology and to get "the umpires and players used to it" - but not a rule change. Two clocks on each court will time how long servers take between points. Under the current rules, time violations are handed out at a chair umpire's discretion. Servers have 20 seconds between points during Grand Slam matches, a frequent point of contention between umpires and players. Violations result in a warning and eventually a point penalty.
Kyle upsets local lad isner
Kyle Edmund has upset 20th-seeded American John Isner at the US Open for his second win over a top-25 player in three matches. The 21-year-old Edmund won 6-4, 3-6, 6-2, 7-6 (5) on Friday. He was playing in the third round at a major for the first time. Isner, 31, is 3-6 in U.S. Open third-round matches. He had defeated the 84th-ranked Edmund in straight sets at this year's French Open. Edmund beat 13th-seeded Richard Gasquet in the first round. Next up: No. 1 Novak Djokovic. Isner had 27 aces, but he converted just 1 of 7 break points, while Edmund was 3 for 4. At 5-5 in the fourth set, Isner led 0-30 when Edmund's serve was called in for an ace. Isner was out of challenges and argued to no avail that the chair umpire should have overruled it, dropping his racket to the court in frustration and fuming, "It was so far out." Edmund went on to hold serve in that game then clinched the tiebreaker with a forehand winner.
Tsonga first to enter last-16
Ninth-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga is the first men's player into the round of 16 at this year's US Open. Tsonga beat 23rd-seeded Kevin Anderson - a surprise quarterfinalist in 2015 - 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (4) on Friday. Each player had 13 aces, but Tsonga managed to break Anderson's serve twice while saving all seven break points he faced. Anderson upset Andy Murray in the fourth round last year at Flushing Meadows, but he's struggled with injuries this season. The US Open is the only major at which Tsonga has not reached the semifinals. He was the 2008 Australian Open runner-up.