NEW YORK: World No. 2 Elena Rybakina avenged her French Open defeat to Yuliia Starodubtseva on Saturday, beating the unseeded Ukrainian 7-6 (8/6), 6-3 to reach the US Open last 16.
The hard-hitting Kazakh, who claimed her second Grand Slam title at the Australian Open in January, fell to Starodubtseva in the second round at Roland Garros, a defeat that may have been on her mind as she struggled to find her rhythm in the opening set.
Starodubtseva took full advantage of Rybakina’s struggles with her forehand and broke for a 5-4 lead.
But Rybakina steadied, breaking back with an angled drop shot to level the set. She saved a set point in the tiebreaker with one of her 12 aces, and with the first set in hand attacked in the second with confidence. A double fault from Starodubtseva handed Rybakina a break to open the second and Rybakina maintained the edge to finish the job in just under two hours.
Her next match will be up against four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka, who beat Elise Mertens of Belgium 6-3, 3-6, 7-5.
Iga Swiatek held her nerve across two tie-breaks to beat Czechia’s Marie Bouzkova 7-6(3), 7-6(3) in third round.
The Pole, winner at Flushing Meadows in 2022, will face Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen of China in the next round. Zheng beat Madison Keys 1-6 7-6 7-5.
Home hopeful Iva Jovic beat Alexandra Eala of the Philippines 7-5, 3-6, 7-5 to reach the fourth round.
The 18-year-old Jovic, ranked a career-high 14th, put aside her friendship with Eala on hold in a gruelling encounter. The Philippine star fought back to force a decider but couldn’t stop Jovic from extending the head-to-head advantage to 3-0 in her favour.
Jovic will face compatriot Coco Gauff, who beat Spain’s Cristina Bucsa, in the next round.
Gauff kept her US Open campaign on track with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Bucsa, reaching the fourth round for a fifth consecutive year and extending her winning streak to nine matches.
It was not Gauff’s cleanest performance. She landed fewer than half of her first serves and served six double faults, but remained effective behind her first delivery, winning 20 of 27 points when it landed. Her defence and movement again proved decisive, while she converted four of nine break-point chances and won 15 of 22 points at the net.
Moreover, 5th seed Mirra Andreeva beat Nikola Bartunkova 6-2 7-6, Agencies
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