American Jessica Pegula, last year’s US Open runner-up, needed just 64 minutes to get past Anna Blinkova 6-1, 6-3 on Wednesday and advance to the third round at Flushing Meadows for a sixth consecutive year.
Since the start of 2021, the fourth-seeded Pegula has amassed 32 match wins at hard-court majors, third most among women behind world No. 1 and defending champion Aryna Sabalenka (50) and No. 2 Iga Swiatek (36).
Pegula, 31, has dropped only eight games in two matches, tied for her fewest en route to the third round of a major in her career; this year’s US Open marks her 16th third-round appearance at a Slam.
She will have her work cut out for her in the next round, as she faces two-time Australian Open champion and former No. 1 Victoria Azarenka, who is unseeded for the tournament.
The 36-year-old Azarenka, a three-time US Open finalist, earned her 100th career match win at a hard-court major by defeating Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-3, 6-3 earlier Wednesday. She became the fifth woman to reach that mark, alongside Serena Williams (200), Venus Williams (133), Steffi Graf (120) and Lindsay Davenport (118).
“Vika is always really tough,” Pegula said. “I know she hasn’t been playing that much and she’s been hurt and all these things, but … when she’s on, she’s probably one of the best baseliners we’ve ever had, especially in the women’s game, that I can remember.”
This will be the seventh meeting between Pegula and Azarenka; they’ve split their previous six matches.
“I feel like I kind of know her pretty well, and I think we know each other’s games really well,” Pegula said. “We also practice quite a few times, more back home because we live close to each other. There’s definitely no secrets.”
Joining Pegula in advancing to the second round was 10th seed Emma Navarro, who defeated Caty McNally 6-2, 6-1 in an all-American matchup on Grandstand.
Britain’s Emma Raducanu also won her second-round match 6-2, 6-1 against Janice Tjen, who in the previous round became the first Indonesian player to win a Grand Slam singles match in 22 years. Raducanu has dropped only six games in this tournament, by far her fewest through the first two rounds of a major in her career. Her previous lowest was when she won the 2021 US Open and dropped 11 games through two rounds.
Alexandra Eala, who made history in Round 1 by becoming the first player representing the Philippines to win a Grand Slam match in the Open era, saw her New York run ended by Spain’s Cristina Bucsa 6-4, 6-3.
ESPN Research contributed to this report.
