Both second- and third-ranked players in the world, Aryna Sabalenka and Jessica Pegula, triumphed to advance to the fourth round of the US Open.
The second-seeded Belarusian Sabalenka defeated France’s Clara Burel 6-1, 6-1 on Louis Armstrong Stadium in just 60 minutes.
Later on Arthur Ashe, American Pegula defeated Ukrainian Elina Svitolina 6-4 4-6 6-2 after holding off her comeback.
In the fourth round, the third seed will take on fellow countrywoman Madison Keys.
Later on Saturday, the fifth-seeded Tunisian Ons Jabeur will compete against the Czech player Marie Bouzkova at Arthur Ashe Stadium, while Wimbledon winner Marketa Vondrousova will take on Ekaterina Alexandrova at Louis Armstrong.
Svitolina returned to Grand Slam tennis after giving birth and reached the quarterfinals of the French Open. She improved on that performance at Wimbledon by reaching the last four, but she was unable to do so on the hard courts in New York.
In the first set, the Ukrainian found it difficult to deal with Pegula’s coolness and appeared uneasy at times, tossing her head, waving her racquet around, and sobbing in anger.
Pegula delighted her home audience by smashing three aces in one game and only need one serve break to effortlessly win the first set.
In the second set, the two players once more had very little to differentiate them until Svitolina erupted in the tenth game, breaking the American with her third set point after Pegula’s shot went out of bounds to force a tiebreaker.
Svitolina appeared more assured in the fourth set, but Pegula grabbed six straight games to maintain her serve before breaking Svitolina in the fifth game with a cross-court forehand winner.
Two games later, the 26th seed saved a break point, but was unable to hold off Pegula, who broke once more before serving out the victory.
Pegula has never advanced past the eighth round at a Grand Slam competition, although she has reached the quarterfinals in six of them. If she defeats Keys in round four, she will aim to end this streak.
With a 5-7 6-2 6-2 victory against Liudmila Samsonova of Russia earlier on Saturday, 17th seed Keys overcame a deficit to advance to the fourth round, joining Coco Gauff as the second American woman to do so.
After a good year, Svitolina will take a sabbatical.
Svitolina might not have believed someone if they had told her at the start of the year that she would make long runs at Wimbledon and Roland Garros while also making her comeback to the sport after giving birth the previous year.
When she returned to the court in March, the former world number three set a goal of cracking the top 100, which she accomplished in a matter of months.
“At Wimbledon, I didn’t anticipate performing at such a high level. I also played pretty well at Roland Garros,” she claimed.
“Overall, I’m very pleased with the competitions I played in, and for the season, I’m right around the top 20.”
Svitolina admitted she was “disappointed” with the Flushing Meadows third-round defeat, but she also stated she will take advantage of the early departure to take some time off and spend time with her baby.
“I simply want to take a break right now so that I may recharge physically before continuing. The Ukrainian woman, who had strapping on her right ankle, added, “I don’t know how much time off I will take, but I’m going to see what the doctors are going to propose.
I haven’t seen my daughter in a very long time, therefore I am eager to return home.
Sabalenka zooms by Burel.
Sabalenka has experienced runs to the semifinals of the French Open and Wimbledon after winning the Australian Open earlier this year. If she beats defending champion Iga Swiatek in New York, she would overtake Swiatek as the world’s top-ranked player.
The Wimbledon semifinalist has won all of her first-round matches without dropping a set, and she continued that trend against Burel, who is ranked 62.
Sabalenka broke right away and didn’t look back, striking 22 winners in a remarkable performance and breaking to love to secure the victory.
The 13th seed Daria Kasatkina, who defeated Greet Minnen of Belgium 6-3, 6-4, will be her opponent in the following round.
‘Inspiration’ for Sabalenka from Wozniacki
The former world number one Caroline Wozniacki will play American sixth seed Gauff on Sunday at the US Open (not before 19:00 BST), and 25-year-old Sabalenka thinks the Dane’s comeback has been a “inspiration”.
Wozniacki, 33, retired in 2020, had two children, and then made a comeback to the court in August, making it to the second round of the Grand Slam at Flushing Meadows.
It’s great, I think,” Sabalenka added. She had two children while she was away for three and a half years, yet she returned and is still performing at her peak.
“If you possess this level, I believe you will never lose it. It gives me such hope that if I ever decide to have a baby, there will be an opportunity for me to return. She inspires me so much, and I’m really glad for her.
The 17th seed American Keys concurred, stating that Wozniacki’s recovery is “incredibly impressive” and that she had “bounced back really quickly.”
