US Open: Svitolina in Grand Slam mode, makes third round

Elina Svitolina, the No 26 seed, reached the third round of the US Open by edging out Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center on Thursday evening.

The Ukrainian continues her excellent run at Grand Slams since returning to the WTA Tour earlier this year after from giving birth to her daughter, Skai, last year. Already this year, Svitolina has made the quarter-finals of Roland-Garros, and the semi-finals of Wimbledon.

Now, the former world No 3 adds a third round at the US Open to her 2023 achievements, a tournament where she made the semi-finals in 2019.

“The quality of the match I wouldn’t say was the highest, so that’s why there was no rhythm really. It was tough to find a good game because you’re like a goalkeeper (smiling),” the Ukrainian said after her win. “Just in the end I’m happy that I could stay in that second set, served well in some good moments. For sure to get through these kind of matches is great because not playing so well, almost thinking you’re not going to win. Finally get that win, it was nice feeling.”

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Tennis Majors

Svitolina, ranked No 26, will face the winner of the match between Romanian Patricia Maria Tig and American Jessica Pegula, the No 3 seed, next. The Ukrainian beat German Anna-Lena Friedsam (6-3, 6-1) in the previous round of the Flushing Meadow tournament, while Pavlyuchenkova, ranked No 98, won against American qualifier Fiona Crawley (6-2, 6-4).

New York (Grand Slam), other second-round results (USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, hard, USD 44.700.000, most recent results first):

• Patricia Maria Tig vs. Jessica Pegula
• Daria Kasatkina vs. Sofia Kenin
• Petra Martic vs. Marie Bouzkova
• Greet Minnen vs. Sachia Vickery
• Ons Jabeur vs. Linda Noskova
• Marketa Vondrousova (9) beat Martina Trevisan: 6-2, 6-2
• Madison Keys (17) beat Yanina Wickmayer (LL): 6-1, 6-2
• Ekaterina Alexandrova (22) beat Lesia Tsurenko: 6-1, 6-3
• Clara Burel beat Karolina Pliskova (25): 6-4, 6-2
• Aryna Sabalenka (2) beat Jodie Burrage: 6-3, 6-2
• Liudmila Samsonova (14) beat Tamara Korpatsch: 6-3, 6-3
• Lucia Bronzetti beat Eva Lys (Q): 6-3, 6-2
• Qinwen Zheng (23) beat Kaia Kanepi: 6-2, 3-6, 6-2
• Peyton Stearns beat Clara Tauson: 6-3, 6-0
• Katie Boulter beat Yafan Wang (Q): 5-7, 6-1, 6-4
• Caroline Wozniacki (WC) beat Petra Kvitova (11): 7-5, 7-6 (5)
• Jelena Ostapenko (20) beat Elina Avanesyan: 6-3, 5-7, 7-5
• Jennifer Brady beat Magda Linette (24): 6-1, 2-6, 6-2
• Elena Rybakina vs. Ajla Tomljanovic
• Bernarda Pera beat Xiyu Wang: 3-6, 7-6 (5), 6-2
• Lin Zhu beat Victoria Azarenka (18): 6-3, 6-3
• Sorana Cirstea (30) beat Anna Kalinskaya: 6-3, 6-4
• Iga Swiatek (1) beat Daria Saville: 6-3, 6-4
• Karolina Muchova (10) beat Magdalena Frech: 6-3, 6-3
• Anna Karolina Schmiedlova beat Rebeka Masarova: 7-6, 6-2
• Xinyu Wang beat Sara Sorribes Tormo: 5-7, 6-3, 6-4
• Coco Gauff (6) beat Mirra Andreeva: 6-3, 6-2
• Belinda Bencic (15) beat Yuriko Miyazaki (Q): 6-3, 6-3
• Kaja Juvan (Q) beat Lauren Davis: 6-7 (3), 6-4, 6-3
• Taylor Townsend beat Beatriz Haddad Maia (19): 7-6 (1), 7-5
• Elise Mertens (32) beat Danielle Collins: 3-6, 7-6 (7), 6-1