Ninth-seeded Garbine Muguruza delivered seven aces on Friday while dispatching three-time event finalist Victoria Azarenka 6-4, 3-6, 6-2 to reach the round of 16 at the U.S. Open in New York.
Muguruza had 34 winners against 24 unforced errors in the two-hour, 17-minute match while advancing to the round of 16 for the second time in her career. The Spaniard also got that far in 2017.
Azarenka, the No. 18 seed from Belarus, had 23 winners and 30 unforced errors. Her serve was an issue as she had nearly twice as many double faults (seven) as aces (four).
The third set was tied 2-2 before Muguruza won the last four games to finish off Azarenka, a U.S. Open finalist in 2012, 2013 and 2020.
“In the third set, I managed just to be there again and go for the match a little bit,” Muguruza said. “When you face these types of opponents, you cannot wait. You have to go get the win. I felt I did it.”
Muguruza next faces eighth-seeded Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic. Krejcikova rolled over lucky loser Kamilla Rakhimova of Russia 6-4, 6-2 in just 74 minutes.
Also putting on a strong performance was 12th-seeded Simona Halep, who recorded a 7-6 (11), 4-6, 6-3 victory over No. 19 seed Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan.
The Romainian recently returned from calf and adductor injuries, but her fitness was solid against the powerful Rybakina, who registered 14 aces.
Halep lost the first three games in the opening set and saved four set points before eventually recovering to win a marathon tiebreaker.
After losing the second set, Halep dropped the first game of the final set before winning the next four en route to closing it out.
“I know that every match is a battle,” Halep said. “But I’m there, and if I’m healthy, I’m confident that I can play my game.”
Halep next faces fifth-seeded Ukrainian Elina Svitolina, who cruised to a 6-4, 6-2 triumph over No. 25 seed Daria Kasatkina of Russia. Svitolina had 25 winners and 14 unforced errors while Kasatkina had 26 winners and 22 unforced errors.
No. 16 seed Angelique Kerber of Germany advanced with a 5-7, 6-2, 6-3 win over American Sloane Stephens. The 2016 U.S. Open champion rebounded well after losing the opening set.
Stephens, the 2017 U.S. Open champion, hit more winners than Kerber (36-24) but also had more unforced errors (39-30).
Kerber next faces the winner of Friday night’s match between third-seeded Naomi Osaka of Japan and Leylah Fernandez of Canada.
–Field Level Media