Aryna Sabalenka Powers Her Way Into The Third Round Of The US Open In Just 53 Minutes
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NEW YORK (AP) -- Aryna Sabalenka came to the U.S. Open struggling and in danger of losing the No. 1 ranking.
She heads to the third round looking every bit ready for a three-peat.
The top-seeded Sabalenka overwhelmed Polina Iatcenko 6-1, 6-1 in 53 minutes on Wednesday night, putting on a power-hitting display that made it seem her recent problems are in the past.
"Happy with the level I played today, happy with the focus and happy to be through this match," Sabalenka said.
A number of players have only finished one match.
Another rainy afternoon in New York suspended play for a time on outside courts, allowing action only under the roofs in Arthur Ashe Stadium and Louis Armstrong Stadium to continue uninterrupted. So the players scheduled there avoided the starts and stops that others faced.
Jessica Pegula was one, needing only 56 minutes to defeat Sofia Kenin 6-3, 6-1. Kenin, the 2020 Australian Open champion, beat Venus Williams in her first match.
"To be out of there in under an hour, it doesn't always happen," Pegula said. "So I think I'm just going to take that one and run, I guess, until the next round."
No. 8 seed Ben Shelton followed Pegula on Ashe and beat Hubert Hurkacz 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (3), 7-5, while No. 7 Daniil Medvedev raced past Sebastian Gorzny -- except for a brief delay to protest the chair umpire's decision to replay a point when two birds sat on the net -- 6-3, 6-3, 7-5.
Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz followed Sabalenka on Ashe.
Sabalenka says she was struggling but now feels better
Sabalenka is trying to become the first player to win three in a row in Flushing Meadows since Serena Williams from 2012-14, but arrived after losing in the fourth round of her past three tournaments. She needs help to stay atop the WTA rankings even if she wins the title.
She won 15 of 16 points on first serve in the first set and only dropped off a little in the second, finishing 21 for 28 in the match, against an opponent who is playing in her first Grand Slam tournament.
"I think I struggled a little bit in the middle of the season. Once again, I'm not going to defend myself or explain why, what happened, but I'm happy with my level," Sabalenka said. "I can definitely say that mentally I'm way stronger than I was in the middle of the season, and physically I also feel stronger. So I feel like I'm on my level of play."