New York (AFP) – Aryna Sabalenka took the next step on the road to a rare US Open three-peat, routing qualifier Polina Iatcenko 6-1, 6-1 to join a raft of contenders cruising into the third round on Wednesday. Men’s defending champion Carlos Alcaraz was seeking to join them when he took on Portugal’s Jaime Faria in the nightcap on Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Alcaraz won his seventh major title at the Australian Open in January but arrived in New York an unknown quantity after a wrist injury forced a four-month layoff that saw him miss Roland Garros and Wimbledon. He dispelled doubts with a straight-sets first-round victory over Roman Safiullin and will look for further improvement against 72nd-ranked Faria.
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World number one Sabalenka, without a title since her impressive Indian Wells-Miami double in March, was in attack mode as she overpowered 160th-ranked Russian qualifier Iatcenko in just 53 minutes. The Belarusian star belted 24 winners, showcasing not only her power from the baseline but also an effective touch at the net. She dropped just four points on serve in the opening set and was broken just once to give Iatcenko her only game of the second set. Sabalenka responded by winning the next three to secure the win.
“Happy with the level I played today, happy with the focus,” said Sabalenka, who will face Uzbekistan’s Kamilla Rakhimova for a place in the round of 16. Jessica Pegula and former champion Daniil Medvedev also raced into the third round. World number three Pegula needed just 56 minutes to trounce Sofia Kenin, the former Australian Open champion now ranked 110th, 6-3, 6-1. Seventh-seeded Medvedev downed US wild card Sebastian Gorzny 6-1, 6-3, 7-5.
Pegula, who is among a trio of players who could supplant Sabalenka atop the world rankings in New York, dropped just seven points on serve. “I was just trying to stay focused on what I needed to do,” said the 2024 US Open runner-up, who next meets another former finalist in Canadian Leylah Fernandez – a 6-4, 6-1 winner over Thailand’s Mananchaya Sawangkaew.
Medvedev, who has struggled in the hard court build-up to the year’s final Grand Slam, dominated 731st-ranked Gorzny. He fired 14 aces and saved the lone break point he faced, although he was distracted briefly when a pair of small birds perched on the Louis Armstrong Stadium net, forcing him to replay a point he thought he’d won. “I saw them straight away and I thought the point would stop straight away and we didn’t,” Medvedev said. “And the moment I hit the winner we stop. I was not happy with the decision.”
Eighth-seeded Ben Shelton prevailed in a tense battle with former world number six Hubert Hurkacz 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (7/3), 7-5. “I thought it was a battle to the end,” Shelton said. “I thought Hubi played fantastic today.” American 11th seed Frances Tiafoe was also in action. But another American tipped as a contender — in-form 16th-seed Brandon Nakashima — bowed out, upset by 46th-ranked compatriot Alex Michelsen 6-3, 6-4, 6-4.
Outside the covered confines of Ashe and the Louis Armstrong Stadium, rain again disrupted play. Sixth-seeded Australian Alex de Minaur finally got his campaign underway in a match postponed from Tuesday but had to wait out another mid-match rain delay on the way to a 6-2, 6-2, 6-4 first-round victory over Italian Andrea Guerrieri. Lucky loser Bu Yunchaokete of China pulled off a first-round upset, toppling 12th-seeded Spaniard Rafael Jodar 6-2, 6-1, 6-1.
© 2024 AFP
