Holder Aryna Sabalenka continued her run at a third straight title at the US Open on Friday as the top seed defeated Kamilla Rakhimova 6-3, 6-4 for her 17th straight win in New York.
The world No. 1 needed one break per set to reach the fourth round at Flushing Meadows against her 92nd-ranked Uzbek opponent.
Sabalenka came through on her second match point and has done through three rounds without losing a set.
At one point she stopped the match and complained to the chair umpire about the fumes of marijuana lofting into the prime showcourt and later explained:
“I was, like, Guys, you can do whatever, you can smoke whatever, you can relax as much as you can, but please, do not do it around the tennis courts.
“It’s a bit tricky to handle that smell while you’re trying to compete at your best.”
She added: “It was a bit windy. I don’t know if it was coming from the crowd or was from the outside because the wind blows it into the stadium.
“I just hope they’re gonna be a bit more aware of that stuff.”
And as for her match: “Obviously I felt great. The statistic was insane. At some point I saw on the screen it was 100 percent first serve.
“After that, it went a little bit down. Probably shouldn’t have been watching.. I should have been focusing on my serve more.
“I’m pretty happy. Of course, cannot complain about my serving game today.”
Jessica Pegula made running repairs to her game after a disaster of an opening set, with the third seed overhauling 2021 finalist Leylah Fernandez 1-6, 6-4, 6-3 after more then two hours to reach the second week of her home major.
The American set up three match points and advanced on her second to dispatch the left-handed Canadian.
“I didn’t start off very well. It was tough. I had to dig deep there in the second to turn that around, and it very well could have not turned around.
“I’m just happy that I was able to find something there in the second and then I think play much better going into the third.”
“I never feel comfortable playing her,” the winner admitted. “It was really tough today. I always feel it’s hard to play her.
“A lot of it revolves around my serve. My serve percentage was pretty bad.”
Pegula is competing here for the 10th time and finished runner-up in 2024 to Sabalenka. She maintained pace to possibly replaces her rival atop the WTA rankings by the end of the tournament.
She will now play retiring Romanian Sorana Cirstea who continued to impress in her final season on court as she shocked double Grand Slam finalist Jasmine Paolini 6-3, 6-3.
Cirstea has reached the round of 16 for the second time here and had lost her last three matches to the former world No. 4 Italian,
The Romanian has reached the second week of a Slam for the seventh time at age 36.
“I’m having the time of my life. I love tennis and I love to compete. I love to play in front of all the fans. It’s an absolute joy to call tennis my job. I’m so grateful for everything,” she said.
Pegula, with 48 wins this season, won her previous match against Cirstea only weeks ago in Cincinnati 7-5 in the third set.
The 11th-seed Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk equalled her career-est showing here with a 6-3, 6-2 defeat of Ekaterina Alexandrova to duplicate her fourth round from 2025.
Retiring Romanian Sorana Cirstea continued to impress in her final season on court, shocking double Grand Slam finalist Jasmine Paolini 6-3, 6-3.
Cirstea has reached the round of 16 for the second time here and had lost her last three matches to the former world No. 4 Italian,
The Romanian has reached the second week of a Slam for the seventh time at age 36.
“I’m having the time of my life. I love tennis and I love to compete. I love to play in front of all the fans. It’s an absolute joy to call tennis my job. I’m so grateful for everything,” she said.
Taylor Townsend got a home win as she beat Diana Shnaider 6-2, 6-7 (3), 6-3 to now play Sabalenka.
Emma Navarro beat Karolina Muchova 6-3, 7-5.
