Third round singles action begins on Friday in New York.
Day 6 features a long list phenomenal WTA third round singles matches, including the likes of Aryna Sabalenka, Elena Rybakina, Jasmine Paolini, and Emma Raducanu. Plus, Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz will both take to Arthur Ashe Stadium
Throughout the tournament, this preview will analyze the day’s four most prominent matches, while highlighting the other notable matches on the schedule. Friday’s play gets underway at 11:00am local time.
Elena Rybakina (9) vs. Emma Raducanu – 11:00am on Louis Armstrong Stadium
Rybakina is 43-16 on the year, but she’s only reached one final since April of 2024, and hasn’t advanced beyond the fourth round of a Major since last year’s Wimbledon. So she’s been consistent, yet failed to be a factor in later rounds, especially at big events. And in New York, Elena has actually never reached the fourth round.
Raducanu is playing her best tennis since her shocking 2021 US Open title run. Like Rybakina, she’s yet to drop a set this week, and has impressively only lost three games in each of her first two rounds. Emma’s 26 match wins during 2025 is the most she’s ever had in a season, and she’s described how much she’s enjoying working with her new coach Francisco Roig, the former coach of Rafael Nadal.
Their only prior meeting was extremely one-sided, with Elena prevailing 6-0, 6-1, back in January of 2022. But Emma is much healthier and confident coming into this compelling third round contest, and we’ve seen the Brit be highly competitive multiple times this year against Aryna Sabalenka, who plays similarly to Rybakina. So while Elena and her power still must be favored, Emma has a chance here to pull off a notable upset.
Marketa Vondrousova vs. Jasmine Paolini (7) – Not Before 1:00pm on Grandstand
After a tough loss at Roland Garros, and a bad grass court season, Paolini has recovered nicely on American hard courts. She’s coming off a run to the final in Cincinnati, where she took advantage of some ugly play from Coco Gauff to upset the American in the quarterfinals. Jasmine won her first two rounds this week in straights, as she looks to reach the round of 16 in New York for the second straight year.
Vondrousova has also taken all four sets she’s contested this week, which includes a victory over the 32nd seed, McCartney Kessler. Marketa is just 16-8 on the year, as 2025 has been like too many other seasons in her career: interrupted by injuries. She missed this tournament a year ago, though she advanced to the quarterfinals back in 2023.
In their first career encounter, I give the slight edge to Paolini. She’s the more match-tough player, and as per Tennis Abstract, the Italian is 4-0 this season against left-handers. Plus, Vondrousova hasn’t beaten a top 10 player on a hard court since March of 2023.
Emma Navarro (10) vs. Barbora Krejcikova – Last on Grandstand
Of course Krejcikova is another Czech who has been plagued by injuries, yet like Vondrousova, she’s healthy again and has been building momentum this summer. Barbora won three matches in Cincinnati, then took out recent Montreal champion Victoria Mboko in the opening round here. Barbora was a US Open quarterfinalist in 2021, but this is the first time she’s advanced this far ever since.
Navarro has dealt with a few injuries of her own this year, which have hampered her ability to follow-up on her breakout 2024 season. She’s just 27-21 during 2025, and arrived in New York having lost five of her last six matches. However, Emma seemingly rediscovered some form in the last round, in a 6-2, 6-1 victory over Caty McNally.
This is a rematch from just last month at Wimbledon, where Navarro came from a set down to defeat the defending champion 6-4 in the third. A grass court would seemingly favor the mix of power and slicing that Krejcikova provides, so on a hard court in her home country, Navarro is a favorite to prevail again. Regardless, I expect another tight and compelling match between these two players who bring so much variety and tactical prowess to the court.
Aryna Sabalenka (1) vs. Leylah Fernandez (31) – 7:00pm on Louis Armstrong Stadium
Sabalenka leads the WTA with 52 wins this season, but it’s a season that has also been filled with painful losses. Nevertheless, Aryna hasn’t lost this early at her last 11 Majors, so can the 2021 runner-up pose any threat to her?
Fernandez has been a streaky player across the last few seasons, and holds a modest record this year of 24-20. Yet just last month, she won the biggest title of her career in Washington, where she upset both Jessica Pegula and Elena Rybakina. Her semifinal against Rybakina in DC was quite epic, ending in a third-set tiebreak after over three hours of play. And Leylah will certainly draw some inspiration from a successful debut of her doubles partnership on Thursday with Venus Williams.
Their only previous meeting was a big one: in the 2021 US Open semifinals, Fernandez upset Sabalenka in thrilling fashion. Four years later, Aryna has become a rather dominant World No.1, and considering how long it’s been since a third round loss for the defending champion, Aryna should be able to avenge that 2021 loss on Friday. There’s just not much in Leylah’s game that can truly challenge that of Aryna’s.
Other Notable Matches on Friday:
Luciano Darderi (32) vs. Carlos Alcaraz (2) – Alcaraz destroyed Mattia Bellucci in the last round, dropping just four games. Darderi is a second consecutive Italian opponent for Alcaraz, and has won three titles this season, though all three came on clay.
Jessica Pegula (4) vs. Victoria Azarenka – This is another big WTA matchup on Friday, between a Major finalist and a two-time Major champion. Their head-to-head is split at 3-3 overall, and at 2-2 on hard courts. But as of late, Pegula has been the significantly better player.
Frances Tiafoe (17) vs. Jan-Lennard Struff – Tiafoe is looking to reach the second week of the US Open for the fourth consecutive year. Struff outlasted Holger Rune on Wednesday, prevailing 7-5 in the fifth. Tiafoe is 2-1 against Struff, but in their only match at a Slam, Struff won in five, which was five years ago in Paris on clay.
Novak Djokovic (7) vs. Cameron Norrie – Djokovic continues to not appear 100% physically, yet continues to advance comfortably. Norrie is coming off a quarterfinal appearance last month at The Championships, though he is 0-6 against Novak.
Friday’s full Order of Play is here.
