Pegula and Navarro Advance at the US Open: Victories and Surprises

Pegula Advances at the US Open; Azarenka Will Be Her Next Rival

American tennis player Jessica Pegula, runner-up at the US Open last year, demonstrated her dominance on the court by defeating Anna Blinkova in just 64 minutes, with a score of 6-1, 6-3. With this victory, Pegula secures her place in the third round of the tournament for the sixth consecutive year.

Since the beginning of 2021, Pegula, currently seeded number four, has accumulated 32 victories in Grand Slam matches on hard courts. This figure places her in third place among women, surpassed only by Aryna Sabalenka (51) and Iga Swiatek (36).

Pegula, 31, has lost only eight games in her two matches, matching her fewest games lost en route to the third round of a major tournament in her career. This edition of the US Open marks her sixteenth appearance in the third round of a Grand Slam. In the next round, Pegula will face Victoria Azarenka, a two-time Australian Open champion and former world number one, who is unseeded in this tournament. Azarenka, 36, and a three-time US Open finalist, achieved her 100th victory in Grand Slam matches on hard courts by defeating Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova with a score of 6-3, 6-3.

“Vika is always very tough. I know she hasn’t been playing much, and she’s had injuries and all that stuff, but… when she’s fit, she’s probably one of the best baseline players we’ve had, especially in women’s tennis, that I can remember,” Pegula commented.

Jessica Pegula

This will be the seventh encounter between Pegula and Azarenka, who have split their previous six matches.

“I feel like I know her pretty well, and I think we know each other’s games very well. We also practice quite a few times, more at home because we live close to each other. There are definitely no secrets,” added Pegula.

Jessica Pegula

In the night session, Aryna Sabalenka, the top seed, easily advanced to the third round, defeating Polina Kudermetova with a score of 7-6 (4), 6-2. In addition to Pegula and Sabalenka, Emma Navarro, tenth seed, also secured her place in the next round after defeating Caty McNally in an American duel, with a score of 6-2, 6-1. Navarro will face Barbora Krejcikova in the next round, whom she already eliminated at Wimbledon. Taylor Townsend also managed to advance to the next round after a hard-fought 7-5, 6-1 victory over Jelena Ostapenko, in a match that ended with a heated discussion on the sidelines. In other individual women’s results, Emma Raducanu won her second-round match 6-2, 6-1 against Janice Tjen. Raducanu has lost only six games in this tournament, her fewest in the first two rounds of a major tournament in her career. Alexandra Eala, who made history in the first round by becoming the first player to represent the Philippines to win a Grand Slam match, saw her participation in New York end by losing to Cristina Bucsa 6-4, 6-3. Players seeded like Elena Rybakina (9), Elise Mertens (19) and Mirra Andreeva (5) also achieved victories in straight sets, while Liudmila Samsonova (17) was eliminated by Priscilla Hon. Later on Wednesday, Belinda Bencic, the sixteenth seed, was surprised by American Ann Li, with a score of 6-3, 6-3. Another American, McCartney Kessler (32), lost to Marketa Vondrousova 7-6 (7), 6-2. In the night session, seventh seed Jasmine Paolini defeated 17-year-old American Iva Jovic with a score of 6-3, 6-3. Paolini has reached the third round or higher in seven of the last eight major tournaments since the beginning of last year.