With Carlos Alcaraz and co., the ATP's long-awaited “changing of the guard” achieved critical mass—for some, not a moment too soon

On Tuesday night at the US Open, Jack Sock was forced to retire in his first-round match with No. 14 seed Diego Schwartzman after his back flared up. Sock led by two sets to one.

On Wednesday, Sam Querrey’s hopes of celebrating one more match win before hanging up his racquet were dashed for good. A day after losing his final singles match to Ilya Ivashka, Querrey and good friend Steve Johnson dropped their doubles opener in a tough draw to No. 2 seeds Wesley Koolhof and Neal Skupski.

Coming into the final major of the season, Isner was ranked No. 48.

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By Wednesday night, John Isner revealed he, too, had unfortunate news. While he advanced in straight sets past Federico Delbonis on the back of 19 aces and zero double faults, the 37-year-old soon cut his New York campaign short due to an injury sustained during the contest.

“In my match yesterday, I sustained a fall and subsequently fractured my left wrist. Extremely unfortunate and needless to say am pulling out of the tournament. See y’all in 2023,” he tweeted.

Isner, who has made 16 consecutive US Open appearances, was coming off a solid showing in Cincinnati. At the Masters 1000 tournament, he upended Hubert Hurkacz and Sebastian Korda on his way to the quarterfinals.

He was then named to Team World’s Laver Cup team, but his participation in London all but looks to be out of the question now.

“Let’s run this back one last time,” Isner previously wrote.

Time after time, Sock has proven he can win with any partner by his side.

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For Sock, his home Slam isn’t over barring his body holds up. A former champion at Flushing Meadows in both men’s and mixed doubles, the Lincoln, Neb. native is due to take the court with Tommy Paul Thursday and Leylah Fernandez Friday.

Paul is one of two Americans to pass through two tests thus far. Frances Tiafoe, Jenson Brooksby, Brandon Nakashima and Christopher Eubanks each look to join the No. 29 seed and J.J. Wolf in the third round.

Andy Roddick was the last U.S. man to lift a major singles trophy, and it happened here 19 years ago.

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