Watson advances in US Open qualifying; Patten and Glasspool face tennis superstars

In the long arc of athletic perseverance, few pursuits carry more quiet dignity than the return — the attempt to reclaim something once held and then lost to time. At Flushing Meadows this week, Heather Watson and a cohort of British players are navigating the grueling three-round gauntlet of US Open qualifying, each match a negotiation between ambition and circumstance. Watson, five years removed from the main draw, steadied herself after dropping the first set to move forward, joined by four compatriots who also survived their opening tests. Meanwhile, the tournament's revamped mixed doubles