Sharapova battles on while Zverev, Kyrgios crash at US Open

Former world number one Maria Sharapova battled back to reach the third round of the US Open while next-generation rising stars Alexander Zverev and Nick Kyrgios crashed out.

Sharapova, who downed second-ranked Simona Halep in her first Grand Slam match after a 15-month doping ban, defeated Hungary's 59th-ranked Timea Babos 6-7 (4/7), 6-4, 6-1 at Arthur Ashe Stadium.

"It wasn't my best tennis," Sharapova said. "It was scrappy tennis but sometimes those kind of matches are a lot of fun and this was one of those days."The 30-year-old Russian, who next faces Russian-born US teen Sofia Kenin, tested positive for meldonium at the 2016 Australian Open, her most recent Grand Slam appearance until this week.

"Every day I have the chance I have to play at the US Open is a special day and I'll look forward to the next one," 146th-ranked Sharapova said.

Sharapova, whose five Grand Slam titles include the 2006 US Open, played only one Open tuneup match after a forearm injury but wore down Halep and Babos to prove she's a threat for a deep run, with Latvian 16th seed Anastasija Sevastova her top-ranked potential



semi-final obstacle.

Fourth seed Zverev, whose five ATP titles this year include a win over Roger Federer in this month's Montreal final, fell to 61st-ranked Croatian Borna Coric 3-6, 7-5, 7-6 (7/1), 7-6 (7/4).

The 20-year-old German had been the highest-ranked player in his half of an injury-hit Open draw."It's upsetting because the draw is pretty open in the bottom part," Zverev said. "I felt like I should have been the favorite there. I just played a very, very bad match, so it's unfortunate."

Coric, who faces South African Kevin Anderson for a last-16 berth, was one point from a fifth set before winning five in a row to force the deciding tie-breaker.

"I was just thinking to keep the points shorter," Coric said. "And yeah, I was a little bit lucky."

Zverev's ouster left US 10th seed John Isner the top- ranked player in his draw quarter and Croatian fifth seed Marin Cilic the best in his half of the draw.

Wimbledon runner-up Cilic, the 2014 US Open winner, reached the third round by beating Germany's Florian Mayer 6- 3, 6-3, 6-3.