US Open: Sabalenka eases into third round

New York : No. 1 seed Aryna Sabalenka defeated Polina Iatcenko, 6-1, 6-1 inside Arthur Ashe Stadium to ease in to the US Open’s third round.

Sabalenka, who is aiming to win her third straight US Open singles title, had little trouble eliminating Iatcenko, who’s advanced to the main draw as a qualifier.

The Belarusian struck 24 winners and converted six of her eight break-point opportunities in the 54-minute match.

With a win Sabalenka runs her US Open winning streak to 15 matches, and she has won 22 straight second-round matches in Grand Slam events.

Moreover, Sabalenka is now 30-2 at the US Open in matches where she wins the first set. The last time she lost a match in New York after winning the first set was the 2023 final against Coco Gauff.

It’s those majors that Sabalenka builds her calendar around, and to date, she hasn’t lifted a trophy. She was the runner-up at the Australian Open, a quarterfinalist at Roland Garros and was bounced in the Round of 16 at Wimbledon.

Next up for Sabalenka is Kamilla Rakhimova, someone Sabalenka holds a 3-0 edge over in their pairings. In those three triumphs, Rakhimova has managed to take just one set off the world No. 1, but it did come on the hard courts of DC. The other two meetings were at Roland Garros, with Sabalenka dominating.

If Sabalenka can successfully defend her singles title and win the US Open for the third straight time, she’ll join a short list of women accomplishing that feat, while being the only non-American to do it.

Serena Williams won three straight from 2012-14, and Chris Evert hoisted the trophy four consecutive tournaments, 1975-78. Seven other women fell short of the three-peat feat.

Notably, a title here will halt the hopes of Elena Rybakina, Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula in overtaking Sabalenka for the No. 1 ranking.

IANS