Maria Sharapova fought off a tough challenge in the first set and then cruised past American Sofia Kenin 7-5, 6-2 in their third-round match at the US Open.
Sharapova, who received a wild card to appear in her first Grand Slam event since serving a 15-month doping ban, struggled at times with the counter-punching Kenin, who committed less than half of the Russian’s 33 unforced errors.
But Sharapova eventually prevailed on power, ripping 36 winners to Kenin’s six. Sharapova next faces 16th-seeded Anastasija Sevastova of Latvia, who earlier downed Donna Vekic of Croatia 6-2, 6-3.
Venus Williams is also into the fourth round of another major after beating Maria Sakkari of Greece 6-3, 6-4.It was Williams’ 74th win at the US Open, breaking a tie with Steffi Graf for fourth most by a woman in the Open era.
The No. 9 seed reached the second week for the seventh straight major, the longest active streak in women’s tennis. It’s the first time since 2010 that she has reached the fourth round in every major.
However, Williams was eliminated earlier Friday from a chance at the No. 1 ranking when Garbine Muguruza reached the Round of 16. Third-seeded Muguruza, this year’s Wimbledon Champion, defeated 31st-seeded Magdalena Rybarikova 6-1, 6-1.
Two-time Wimbledon Champion Petra Kvitova advanced 6-0, 6-4 over 18th-seeded Caroline Garcia. Muguruza and Kvitova will meet in the fourth round.
American Sloane Stephens, 24, is into the US Open’s fourth round, something she last did in 2013. Now she is into the second week at a major for the first time since the 2015 French Open.
Today’s Matches round 32
Women’s Singles
1 K. Pliskova Vs 27 S. Zhang
10 A. Radwanska Vs 20 C. Vandeweghe
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This post was published on September 2, 2017 6:30 pm