US Open PIX: Gauff, Sabalenka advance; Azarenka exits

Images from the US Open women's singles third round matches, at Flushing Meadows, New York, on Friday.

Defending champion Coco Gauff was tested early but righted the ship in time to secure a spot in the last 16 at the US Open with a confidence-boosting 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 victory over plucky Ukrainian Elina Svitolina on Friday.

Third seed Gauff, who conceded just six games across the opening two rounds in New York, faced her toughest test yet against Svitolina but managed to raise her game to a higher level as the match wore on.

Gauff did well to swat aside a pair of early break points and reach 2-2 but Svitolina, the 27th seed, kept pressuring the American and broke at love for a 5-3 lead before serving out a set in which she won the final 11 points to grab control.

But Svitolina was unable to maintain her aggressive start and suddenly began playing more defensively while Gauff managed to wake up the rather subdued crowd when she broke for a 4-2 lead before going on to serve out the second set.

Gauff, who arrived at the US Open eager to bounce back from a run of disappointing results, saved her best tennis for the decider, consolidating a break to go ahead 2-0 and establishing a 4-1 double break cushion.

With a chance to serve out the match, Gauff threw Svitolina a lifeline as she squandered a 40-love lead but the American struck back the next game with a break at love to close out the match.

Gauff, who is trying to become the first woman to defend a US Open title since Serena Williams won three straight from 2012-14, will face either fellow-American Emma Navarro or Ukraine's Marta Kostyuk in the fourth round.

Sabalenka battles past Alexandrova

Last year's runner-up Aryna Sabalenka overcame a shaky display after the latest start to a match at the US Open for a 2-6, 6-1, 6-2 third-round win over 29th seed Ekaterina Alexandrova in the early hours of Saturday morning.

Sabalenka and Alexandrova walked onto Arthur Ashe Stadium with fans still catching their breath after Alexei Popyrin upset defending champion Novak Djokovic late on Friday night, and the duo began their match only at 12.08 a.m.

The previous latest recorded start at the tournament came in 1987, when Gabriela Sabatini and Beverly Bowes took to the court at midnight and wrapped up in 90 minutes.

A quick finish seemed unlikely after Australian Open champion Sabalenka's game went off the rails amid a string of unforced errors and the second-seeded Belarusian dropped the opening set in 33 minutes.

"I don't know what I did, I was just trying to stay low, put as many balls as I can back on that side. She played incredible tennis in the first set. It was really tough to change it," Sabalenka said.

The 26-year-old quickly found her groove and broke for a 3-1 lead in the next set and never looked back thereafter, levelling the contest with a breathtaking display of power to overwhelm her spirited Russian opponent.

"I'm really happy I was able to turn around this match and get this really difficult win."

Sabalenka was surprisingly broken after going up 5-0 in the decider but she promptly delivered the knockout blow to a fading Alexandrova with a backhand winner to delight the crowd that stuck around.

"Thanks so much for staying that late," Sabalenka said as the clock neared 2 am local time.

Wang shocks Azarenka

Victoria Azarenka saw her 17th attempt at winning the US Open come to a disappointing end as unseeded Wang Yafan downed the veteran 20th seed 6-4, 3-6, 6-1.

A polished Wang bested the two-time major winner in lengthy exchanges to extend her deepest ever run at a Grand Slam.

Azarenka, a three-time US Open runner-up, committed 32 unforced errors and dropped serve six times in the two hour 22 minute battle.

The Belarusian former world No. 1 saw an early 3-1 first-set lead erode as Wang rallied back to take the opener with a cross-court forehand blast that the two-time Australian Open champion sent long.

Azarenka, who beat Wang at the Washington Open a month ago, made her greater experience count as she rattled off four straight games in the second set to force a decisive final frame.

But a jubilant crowd packed with Chinese fans, still buzzing from Zheng Qinwen's win in the prior match on Grandstand, cheered on 80th ranked Wang as she opened up a 4-0 lead in third set before securing victory.

Zheng scores quick win over Niemeier

China's Zheng Qinwen shook off slow starts in the opening two rounds of the US Open and took down unseeded German Jule Niemeier 6-2, 6-1.

The Olympics gold medalist and seventh seed fired off eight aces and seized five break-points on the Grandstand hard court in her first straight-sets victory of the year's final major.

Niemeier, nursing a foot injury, committed five double faults and held serve in just three games of the match that wrapped up quickly in an hour and 21 minutes.

Zheng was sharp from the start, blasting two aces to open the second game and breaking Niemeier's serve in the fifth to seize control of the match and energize scores of Chinese chanting "jiayou" from the stands.

A cross-court forehand blast captured a second service break for the 2024 Australian Open runner-up as Niemeier's forehand return found the net.

Zheng grabbed seven straight points to open the second set and cruised to the win, avenging a third-round loss to the German at her first US Open in 2022 and setting up a fourth-round clash with either Donna Vekic or Peyton Stearns, who play later on Friday.

"Finally, it's the first match I won in two sets ... It's not (been) easy for me to play after Olympic Games," said Zheng, who has noted previous struggles with focus after deep tournament runs."I'm starting to find my tennis and I start to play better and better."

The enthusiastic support from Chinese fans also helped.

"Jiayou, means 'come on' in English ... In Chinese, saying jiayou to me, I feel a lot of energy and I feel it really brings me up."