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The top seed at the U.S. Open and the reigning champion, Sabalenka downed 31st-seeded Fernandez 6-3, 7-6 (2) in third-round action on Friday in New York.
Sabalenka closed the match by winning her 18th consecutive tiebreaker, an Open Era record (since 1968). The Belarusian star improved to 20-1 in tiebreakers this year, the most tiebreaker wins by a player in a season during the Open Era.
Fernandez, a Canadian, had upset Sabalenka in the 2021 U.S. Open semifinals.
“It was definitely an exciting match,” Sabalenka said. “Last time we met, it was a great battle. She played an incredible match, and I wanted this revenge badly, so I’m super happy with the win. She’s a great player, a great competitor and always brings you the fight on court.”
The biggest upset of the day came in the last match, when the United States’ Taylor Townsend downed fifth-seeded Mirra Andreeva of Russia 7-5, 6-2.
Townsend, a doubles specialist who is ranked 139th in singles, matched her best-ever singles result in a major tournament: a fourth-round loss at the 2019 U.S. Open.
A 23-6 edge in winners was plenty for Townsend, who committed only slightly more unforced errors than Andreeva did (27-25).
At the end of her previous match, Townsend was involved in a mid-court spat with her beaten opponent, Jelena Ostapenko, who said the American had “no education” and “no class.”
After defeating Andreeva, Townsend said of the controversy, “I want to say thank you to everyone who supported me over these last 48 hours. It’s bigger than me. It’s about the message, it’s about the representation. It’s about being bold and being able to show up as yourself, and I think that tonight you guys saw the real Taylor Townsend.”
In earlier action, top-10 seeds Jessica Pegula and Elena Rybakina swept into the fourth round, but Jasmine Paolini and Emma Navarro were ousted.
Ex-Wimbledon champ Marketa Vondrousova knocked off Italian seventh seed Paolini 7-6 (4), 6-1 in their third-round match.
The unseeded Czech hit six aces and remained unbroken throughout the clash. The pair were locked into a competitive back-and-forth in the key sixth game of the second set when Paolini sent a backhand stab sailing long to help Vondrousova convert her sixth break point.
“It was a very important game,” Vondrousova said after the match. “Big difference between 4-2 and 5-1. It was a crazy game — and the key to the match.”
The 29-year-old Paolini had two straight-set wins leading into Friday’s matchup, including breezing past teenager Iva Jovic in her second-round match. Coming into the U.S. Open, she had been playing some of her best tennis, including a trip to the Cincinnati Open final, where she fell to Polish star Iga Swiatek, and titles in both singles and doubles at the Italian Open earlier this year.
It is the first time Vondrousova has reached the fourth round of a major since last year’s French Open, where she lost to Swiatek in the quarterfinal.
She will next face the ninth-seeded Rybakina of Kazakhstan, who lost just three games and needed only 62 minutes to defeat Great Britain’s Emma Raducanu 6-1, 6-2.
A former Wimbledon champ like Vondrousova, Rybakina’s weakest Grand Slam has historically been the U.S. Open. This marks her first time reaching the fourth round in Flushing Meadows.
“For some reason the U.S. Open through the years wasn’t really successful for me,” Rybakina said in her on-court interview. “So hopefully this year it will change.”
No. 4 seed Pegula, on the other hand, made the 2024 U.S. Open her closest call at a major before falling to No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus in the final.
The New York state native is trying to chart a course back to the final as she defeated former World No. 1 Victoria Azarenka of Belarus 6-1, 7-5 Friday in Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Pegula fell down a break in the second set and trailed Azarenka 4-2 and 5-4 before completing a comeback.
“Last year this place was really special,” Pegula said in her on-court interview. “I had some amazing moments on this court. My results weren’t that amazing the last couple of months, so being able to turn it around really quickly was awesome.”
Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic rallied to beat No. 10 Navarro 4-6, 6-4, 6-4.
Spaniard Cristina Bucsa upset No. 19 seed Elise Mertens of Belgium 3-6, 7-5, 6-3, and the United States’ Ann Li got past Australia’s Priscilla Hon 7-5, 6-3.
–Field Level Media
