Marketa Vondrousova, Wimbledon champion in Wimbledon in 2022, beat this year’s Rome WTA 1000 champion and Cincinnati finalist Jasmine Paolini 7-6 (7-4) 6-1 on Grandstand to reach the fourth round at the US Open.
Vondrousova set up a fourth round match against Elena Rybakina, who beat Emma Raducanu 6-1 6-2.
Vondrousova has extended her record over Paolini to 2-0 in their head-to-head matches and clinched the 15th win of her career against a top 10 player.
Vondrousova opened up a 6-2 lead in the tie-break and converted her third set point when Paolini missed a backhand long.
Vondrousova converted her sixth break point when Paolini’s backhand sailed long in the sixth game of the second set.
Vondrousova won 48 of her 70 service points and did not drop her serve. The Czech player broke Paolini twice.
“It was a very important game. Big difference between 4-2 and 5-1. It was a crazy game — and the key to the match”, said Vondrousova.
Jessica Pegula beat Victoria Azarenka 6-1 7-5 in Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Pegula broke three times to win the first set 6-1. Azarenka earned a break in the fifth game to take a 3-2 lead. Pegula broke back in the eighth game to draw level to 4-4. Azarenka broke for the second time in the ninth game to earn her chance to serve for the set at 5-4, when Pegula hit her backhand into the net. Pegula won the last three games to seal the second set 7-5.
Pegula converted six of her 15 break points.
“Last year this place was really special. 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”, said Pegula in the post-match interview.
