ONLY the most recent Grand Slam winner in action on court for the women’s US Open Round of 16 matches was able to progress through to the quarter finals, as three previous Grand Slam winners all fell in the fourth round. One of them was to Barbora Krejcikova, with the most recent Roland Garros champion, toppling Garbine Muguruza for the second consecutive time, winning in straight sets to advance through to the final eight. A couple of years younger than her opponent, all four matches went the way of the younger player in what was a promising look for the next crop coming through.

Krejcikova won 6-3 7-6 against Muguruza in a match that went longer than many thought it would after the Czech eighth seed went a set and two breaks up at 6-3 4-0. Somehow the Spanish talent hit back to win the next five games and have a set point in the 10th game, only for Krejicikova to hold, steady, force it to a tiebreaker and win the tiebreaker 7-4. She also served 10 aces to three, and won 73 and 42 per cent of his first and second serve points, compared to Muguruza’s 60 and 39 per cent. She hit nine more winners (29-20) and only had four more unforced errors (28-24), breaking four times to three in the straight sets win.

The biggest win of the day was the come-from-behind win by Canadian young gun Leylah Fernandez on her 19th birthday, with the teenager defeating the experienced Angelique Kerber, 4-6 7-6 6-2. The match lasted two hours and 15 minutes, and somehow the birthday girl held her nerve through the second set tiebreaker, to force a deciding set, then skip away with the win. Fernandez hit 45 winners to 28, and produced the only three aces of the match. The Canadian was also impressive at the net, dominating with a 76 per cent success rate, and taking control on Kerber’s serve, with a 45 per cent winning record.

“The match was incredible,” Fernandez said post-match “I was playing well in the first set. Unfortunately I did a few mistakes. Her, as a great player, great champion, she noticed and she took advantage of it. I was able to refocus and fight back for the second. In the third, I was just enjoying every moment of it.”

“At 3-4 [in the second set], I don’t know if it was just a mindset or it was a feeling, but I just felt like that was the moment that I was going to break her serve and I was able to figure it out,” said Fernandez. “I was just glad I was having fun on the court. I was trusting my game at 100 percent.”

“I have been working hard every day since the day I started playing tennis and since the day I set my mind to being a professional,” Fernandez added. “I expected that one day my tennis game is going to come through and that I’m going to be on the big stage in front of a big crowd playing against big players and also getting the wins.”

At the other end of the rankings, second seed Aryna Sabalenka blasted her way past popular doubles partner Elise Mertens, winning 6-4 6-1 to increase her head-to-head with her Belgian opponent to 6-2 on the WTA Tour. Sabalenka hit 22 winners and 21 unforced errors to Mertens’ 13 and 16, with the Belarusian more measured than usual during the 71-minute victory. She also produced 10 double faults for only two aces to keep her opponent in it, but eventually knocked off the 15th seed courtesy of a 76 and 54 per cent winning record off her first and second serves, and breaking four times to one.

In the other Round of 16 match, fifth seed Elina Svitolina will take on Fernandez after disposing of two-time Grand Slam winner Simona Halep, 6-3 6-3. Svitolina has been building form of late after a bronze medal in Tokyo, and she continued that with a win in one hour and 16 minutes on Arthur Ashe Stadium. Svitolina hit five aces to one, and whilst she had eight less winners (16-24), had eight less unforced errors (14-22), as well as breaking even on Halep’s serve, and winning 71 and 50 per cent of her own first and second serve points, to break five times to two in the straight sets victory.

US OPEN ROUND OF 16 RESULTS:

[2] Aryna Sabalenka defeated [15] Elise Mertens (BEL) 6-4 6-1
[5] Elina Svitolina (UKR) defeated [12] Simona Halep (ROU) 6-3 6-3
[8] Barbora Krejcikova (CZE) defeated [9] Garbine Muguruza (ESP) 6-3 7-6
Leylah Fernandez (CAN) defeated [16] Angelique Kerber (GER) 4-6 7-6 6-2

Picture credit: Brad Penner/USTA