PAST US Open winner Sloane Stephens was one of only three unseeded players to advance to the Round of 32 in the bottom half of the women’s draw following day three of action. The first 16 players through to the third round were decided overnight, with all the Top 20 seeds securing their spots in the next round, and Stephens’ win over 21st seed Coco Gauff was the biggest upset of the otherwise predictable day.

Stephens has had her inconsistencies since triumphing in 2017 at Flushing Meadows, smashing Madison Keys that day 6-3 6-0. In the first round on Monday she also defeated Keys, and then took out the United States’ most promising player in Gauff, toppling her 6-4 6-2 in just 66 minutes. The teenager hit two more winners (13-11), but also six more unforced errors (25-19), as Stephens was efficient off her serve, only dropping 10 points in total as she won 80 and 75 per cent of her first and second serve points off an 84 per cent clip. By comparison Gauff struggled off her second serve with just a 38 per cent strike rate, and was broken three times from five chances.

“I think Coco is a great girl,” Stephens said post-match. “I call her Cocofina, and I have known her since she was like 8. I feel so old because I have actually grown up and seen her play and practice and stuff. I think the evolution of her game has been really awesome.”

Overall it was a great day for past Grand Slam winners, with eighth seed Barbora Krejicikova, ninth seed Garbine Muguruza, 12th seed Simona Halep and 18th seed Victoria Azarenka all advancing through to the third round without too many troubles. The most recent addition to that exclusive group – Krejcikova – defeated Christina McHale 6-3 6-1 in an hour and 23 minutes. The Czech smacked 20 winners to five, and whilst she was a little loose with her unforced errors (28-12), she controlled play, breaking six times to two and winning 79 per cent of her net points, and making up for a poor serving efficiency (48 per cent) with a 73 and 50 per cent winning record on her first and second serve points.

Earlier on Louis Armstrong Arena, Muguruza took care of German Andrea Petkovic 6-4 6-2, before Azarenka had a bit more of a fight on her hands before triumphing over Italian Jasmine Paolini, 6-3 7-6. Halep easily defeated Kristina Kucova 6-3 6-1 in 68 minutes on Arthur Ashe Stadium. The easiest seeded win of the day was Naomi Osaka, with the Japanese star not needing to take the court against Serbian Olga Danilovic, advancing to the Round of 32 in a walkover. Also through in straight sets was second seed Aryna Sabalenka who took just 59 minutes to blow Slovenian Tamara Zidansek off the court. The Belarusian hit 24 winners and served four aces from her 60 points won, breaking her opponent four times from five chances, and not being broken herself. She also only dropped seven points on serve from a 68 per cent clip and won more than half of her receiving points.

Way out on Court 17, fifth seed Elina Svitolina had a good 6-2 7-5 victory over Spaniard Rebeka Masarova, whilst fellow seed Elena Rybakina needed 65 minutes to win against Frenchwoman Caroline Garcia, 6-1 6-4. Meanwhile 20th seed Ons Jabeur looked like she had somewhere to be, blitzing Colombian youngster Maria Camila Osorio Serrano 6-0 6-1 in just 53 minutes, the quickest match of the day. Among the other seeds to win in straight sets were Elise Mertens and Danielle Collins, while Russian Kamilla Rakhimova caused the only other seeded upset, knocking off compatriot and 32nd seed Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-4 6-1 to book her third round spot. Leylah Fernandez beat her much more experienced opponent Kaia Kanepi 7-5 7-5, whilst in the late game after some rain delays inside a roofed stadium, German 16th seed Angelique Kerber‘s quest to defeated Ukrainian Anhelina Kalinina was put on hold, with the game rescheduled to Thursday.

US OPEN ROUND OF 64 RESULTS:

[2] Aryna Sabalenka (BLR) defeated Tamara Zidansek (SLO) 6-3 6-1
[3] Naomi Osaka (JPN) defeated Olga Danilovic (SRB) W/O
[5] Elina Svitolina (UKR) defeated Rebeka Masarova (ESP) 6-2 7-5
[8] Barbora Krejcikova (CZE) defeated Christina McHale (USA) 6-3 6-1
[9] Garbine Muguruza (ESP) defeated Andrea Petkovic (GER) 6-4 6-2
[18] Victoria Azarenka (BLR) defeated Jasmine Paolini (ITA) 6-3 7-6
[12] Simona Halep (ROU) defeated Kristina Kucova (SVK) 6-3 6-1
[15] Elise Mertens (BEL) defeated Valentini Grammatikopoulou (GRE) 6-2 6-2
[16] Angelique Kerber (GER) vs. Anhelina Kalinina (UKR) POSTPONED
[19] Elena Rybakina (KAZ) defeated Caroline Garcia (FRA) 6-1 6-4
[20] Ons Jabeur (TUN) defeated Maria Camila Osorio Serrano (COL) 6-0 6-1
Sloane Stephens (USA) defeated [21] Coco Gauff (USA) 6-4 6-2
[25] Daria Kasatkina (RUS) defeated Marketa Vondrousova (CZE) 3-6 6-4 6-4
[26] Danielle Collins (USA) defeated Kaja Juvan (SLO) 6-4 6-2
Kamilla Rakhimova (RUS) defeated [32] Ekaterina Alexandrova (RUS) 6-4 6-1
Leylah Fernandez (CAN) defeated Kaia Kanepi (EST) 7-5 7-5

Picture credit: Garrett Ellwood/USTA