Rafael Nadal overcame a freak injury scare when he accidentally hit himself with his own racquet to reach the US Open third round on Thursday.
The Spaniard defeated Italy's Fabio Fognini 2-6, 6-4, 6-2, 6-1 but only after suffering a bizarre self-inflicted injury when leading 3-0 in the fourth set.
The four-time champion, and holder of a men's record 22 Grand Slam titles, was hurt when his racquet bounced back off the court as he stretched for a ball and hit him squarely on the nose.
The 36-year-old Australian and French Open champion dropped his racquet to the Arthur Ashe Stadium floor and sprinted to the sidelines where he lay on his back with his nose bloodied.
He required a medical timeout to have the wound tended before resuming the match with a bandage across the bridge of his nose.
Nadal goes on to face France's Richard Gasquet against whom he boasts a 17-0 career record after coming through his late night scrap which saw a total of 15 breaks of serve and 97 unforced errors.
No handshake
Azarenka triumphed against Marta Kostyuk 6-2, 6-3 in a match dominated by bitter exchanges over the conflict in Ukraine.
Last week, Belarusian star Azarenka was axed from an exhibition event aimed at raising money for the war-ravaged country.
Ukraine's Kostyuk had refused to take part in protest at the presence of Azarenka who she has criticised for a perceived failure to condemn the invasion of her home country.
Belarus is a close ally of Russia and has allowed Moscow to use its territory to launch attacks into Ukraine.
The tension between the two was evident at the end of their tie on Court 17 with Kostyuk offering just a touch of racquets instead of the customary post-match handshake.
"How did it make me feel? It's not the most important thing in the world right now," said Azarenka.
Kostyuk, the 20-year-old World No 65, said a handshake would not have been appropriate.
"I genuinely wanted to warn her that I'm not going to shake her hand," she said.
"She never came up to me personally to tell me her opinion, what she thinks (about the war)."
Away from the controversy, World No 1 and French Open champion Iga Swiatek cruised into the third round with a 6-3, 6-2 win over 2017 champion Sloane Stephens.
Paula Badosa, the fourth seed and potential semifinal opponent of Swiatek, suffered another miserable return to the city of her birth.
The Spaniard's failure to get beyond the second round will stretch for another year after losing 6-7 (5), 6-1, 6-2 to Petra Martic of Croatia.
Sixth seed Aryna Sabalenka, a semifinalist in 2021, came back from 1-5 down in the second set and saved two match points to defeat Kaia Kanepi, 2-6, 7-6 (8), 6-4.
China will have four women in the last 32 for the first time at a Slam after Zheng Qinwen defeated Anastasia Potapova and Yuan Yue got the better of Irina-Camelia Begu.
Zhang Shuai and Wang Xiyu had already booked their spots in the next stage.
Alcaraz through
Spanish teenager Carlos Alcaraz dug deep to save 13 of 14 break points to defeat Federico Coria of Argentina.
World No 4 Alcaraz, a quarterfinalist in 2021, went through 6-2, 6-1, 7-5 on the back of 46 winners and will next face Jenson Brooksby of the United States.
It was the 46th victory of the year for the 19-year-old, tying him with Stefanos Tsitsipas for the best stretch.
Also going through was 2014 champion Marin Cilic, a 6-3, 7-6 (4), 6-3 winner over Albert Ramos Vinolas.
Cameron Norrie and Dan Evans reached the third round giving Britain four men in the last 32 in New York for the first time since 1933.
Seventh seed Cameron Norrie saw off Portugal's Joao Sousa 6-4, 6-4, 7-6 (4) while Dan Evans defeated James Duckworth of Australia 6-3, 6-2, 4-6, 6-4.