We’re down to the last 32 in New York as third round matches from the bottom half of the women’s draw took centre stage on Friday. It’s only been a four day week for me after the Bank Holiday, but I am so relieved that it’s the weekend and can focus on the tennis for a few days! The first player to reach the second week was Petra Kvitova who didn’t face a break point in a 6-0 6-4 win over Caroline Garcia. I’ll never get bored of seeing that Petra smile! 😍
Carla Suárez Navarro won her fifth consecutive match against Ekaterina Makarova, winning 6-1 3-6 6-3 in one hour and 41 minutes. Despite their recent encounters, this was a bit of a surprise considering how well Makarova had been playing during the summer. An error-strewn, Makarova rallied from 1-6 0-2 to win the second set. Suárez Navarro regained control in the decider to reach the last 16 of a Slam for the sixth time in her last eight Slam appearances.
Twice coming from a break down in the second set and clutch in the key moments, Sloane Stephens beat Ashleigh Barty, 6-2 6-4, to win her 11th match in the last month. Barty had so many openings on Stephens’s serve, but the American was just so solid. Key to the win was Stephens’s superior movement and depth on her groundstrokes, frequently coming out on top in the central baseline duels. Barty was inconsistent on her forehand and not able to unsettle Stephens with her slice.
Another good tournament for Barty who has been consistently racking up the wins and is projected to crack the world’s top 40 after the US Open. For Stephens, is it mad to say she is a contender for the title?! This was another very impressive performance.
Stephens will play Julia Goerges in the fourth round – both have had stunning summer runs and both are into a Slam second week for the first time since the 2015 French Open. Goerges played a super clean match to dispatch Aleksandra Krunic, 6-3 6-3. Goerges didn’t face a break point until her very last service game when she served for the match. The German player saved all three break points with classy tennis as she came through for the win in 72 minutes.
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Wimbledon, SFs – Garbiñe Muguruza d. Magdalena Rybarikova, 6-1 6-1 in 65 minutes
Us Open, R3 – Garbiñe Muguruza d. Magdalena Rybarikova, 6-1 6-1 in 61 minutes
Muguruza produced another superb performance to set up a tantalising fourth rounder against Kvitova. Garbiñe has looked so secure this week and is one of three players left in the hunt for the world number one spot.
Venus Williams maintained her brilliant run on the big stage with a 6-3 6-4 win over Maria Sakkari. Venus has reached the last 16 of a Slam in nine of her last ten appearances. The serve was wobbly at times with eight double faults, but you can’t go wrong with a straight sets win!
While I was asleep…
Anastasija Sevastova defeated Donna Vekic, 6-2 6-3 to reach the second week of the US Open for the second straight year.
Maria Sharapova beat Sofia Kenin, 7-5 6-2 in the late night match on Ashe. Loved the point linked below!
The last 16 matches from the bottom half are all set – looking forward to them all!
Third round action continues on Saturday and again, i’m pretty happy with the schedule! Lucie up first and followed by Dasha 😊. A pair of polls for what I think are the two most intriguing matches on paper.
And finally – Congrats, Serena!
Moo's Tennis Blog 
Dior of the court!!!—-Aga Radwanska apparently became possessed with fashion design during her match with Putintseva, and decided to make some alterations to her tennis dress during a change of court. The Rad took a pair of scissors and snipped away at her dress and went on to win 7-5,6-2.
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I heard about this! The video of it on Twitter had been removed for copyright so didn’t actually see it.
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Quite fitting for Serena, it being ‘labor week’ and ‘labor weekend’ in the USA……. sorry…. I’ll see myself out *goes to grab coat* . I wonder if she’ll like her to play too…. *I wonder as I step out the door* .
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Ha!
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