US Open: Muchova tweens her way into round of 16, quashing home-hope Townsend

No 10 seed Karolina Muchova reached the last 16 of the US Open for the second time in her career, beating American Taylor Townsend 7-6, 6-3 at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York on Friday.

Townsend had impressed earlier in the tournament, overcoming Brazilian Beatriz Haddad Maia, the No 19 seed (7-6 (1), 7-5). However, she was unable to withstand an in-form Muchova, who struck 25 winners and only 14 unforced errors across the course of the one hour, 54 minute match.

Muchova, ranked No 10, also pulled off an incredible tweener, which came early on in the second set, on her way to the win.

The Czech will face China’s Xinyu Wang, who defeated Slovak Anna Karolina Schmiedlova, next. Earlier, she won against Australian wildcard Storm Hunter (6-4, 6-0) and Pole Magdalena Frech (6-3, 6-3) earlier in the tournament.

New York (Grand Slam), other third-round matches (USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, hard, USD 44,700,000, most recent results first):

• Elena Rybakina vs. Sorana Cirstea
• Clara Burel vs. Aryna Sabalenka
• Daria Kasatkina vs. Greet Minnen
• Qinwen Zheng vs. Lucia Bronzetti
• Ons Jabeur vs. Marie Bouzkova
• Elina Svitolina vs. Jessica Pegula
• Liudmila Samsonova vs. Madison Keys
• Ekaterina Alexandrova vs. Marketa Vondrousova
• Katie Boulter vs. Peyton Stearns
• Elise Mertens vs. Coco Gauff
• Lin Zhu vs. Belinda Bencic
• Caroline Wozniacki vs. Jennifer Brady
• Jelena Ostapenko vs. Bernarda Pera
• Iga Swiatek vs. Kaja Juvan
• Xinyu Wang vs. Anna Karolina Schmiedlova