It has been a horror show for Americans on Saturday, as the latest scalp, the 9th seed Taylor Fritz, exits the US Open in an epic collapse against Francisco Cerundolo. After winning the first two sets 6-4, 6-4 in 94 minutes, the 24th-seeded Argentine came back and won the next three sets 6-3, 6-4, 6-4. 

Cerundolo played through fatigue after already playing a four-hour battle in the previous round. He cut down on unforced errors to claw back the third set, and from there, Fritz’s biggest weapon, his serve, deserted him. His first-serve percentage collapsed to 47 percent in the fourth set, while the Argentine dropped just three points on his first serve. Fritz actually finished with more points than Cerundolo, 150-148, but still lost the match. 

He joins Amanda Anisimova, who crashed out against Anastasia Potapova, and Madison Keys, who lost to Qinwen Zheng in three sets, leading 5-0 in the third set and then losing seven straight games. It capped a rough Saturday for the host nation, but there are still strong contenders left on both fronts like 8th seed Ben Shelton, Frances Tiafoe on the men’s side and 4th seed Coco Gauff on the women’s side.

This is a developing story…