Serena, Kenin and Stephens dominate; the young Anisimova dazzles

Keep on steadily Serena Williams on her ninth attempt to win her 24th Grand Slam and thus tie with the leader of all time, Margaret Court. The American added her 103rd victory at the US Open against the Russian Margarita Gasparyan (6-2, 6-4), extending their record of victories in the tournament, broken in their last match. Serena went to Arthur Ashe Stadium very concentrated, with the intention of solving the match as soon as possible. And so he did. In an hour and a half, Williams was back in the locker room.

Serena broke three of Gasparyan's four serves in the first set. In the second, he suffered more than normal to maintain his serve, but Williams' 27 winners put his victory back on track. He did not do it without first suffering problems, more physical than gaming. During a break in the second set, Serena complained to the chair umpire about the short time she had between point and point, commenting that she could barely breathe (Before the tournament, he commented that he takes extra anti-coronavirus measures for his lung problems). Her opponent in the third round will be another US Open winner, his compatriot Sloane Stephens, in which it will be the match of the day.

Sofia Kenin, the highest seed (2nd) who continues to participate in the women's edition -the first, Pliskova, was eliminated yesterday-, once again dispelled the doubts that the elimination in his first match at the Cincinnati Masters 1,000. The world number four settled her match against the Canadian Leylah Fernandez on the fast track, and in less than an hour and a half he won by a clear 6-4 and 6-3.

In the first sleeve, Kenin shot effectively, and took advantage of the only break ball he had to take it. He continued with a high success in the second set, in which he took advantage of two of four break opportunities. Fernandez didn't have a single chance to break Kenin's serve, very successful with his serve, and limiting his unforced errors. The winner of the Australian Open 2020 is already in the third round, phase in which it has been eliminated in the last three editions of the US Open, in which he will face Ons Jabeur (27th). The Tunisian defeated Estonian Kaia Kanepi 7-6 (8) and 6-0 in a match that was decided in the tie break of the first set, after which Kanepi raised the white flag.

Victoria Azarenka proved to be still sweet after her victory at the 1,000 Masters in Cincinnati and defeated her compatriot, Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka, fifth seed of the tournament, which fails again in a Grand Slam. Azarenka, a finalist in the US Open in 2012 and 2013, and winner of two Australian Open, it was too much for Sabalenka, which he completely wiped off the map. In just over an hour, Azarenka was leading 6-1 6-3 to return to the third round of the tournament for the second time since 2015. Also, with this triumph, Azarenka takes revenge on her compatriot, which eliminated her last year in the first round of the North American major.

Another local player, the young Amanda Anisimova (22nd) also entered the third round of the tournament, not without previous suffering when she traced her compatriot Katrina Scott for a 4-6, 6-4 and 6-1 in almost two hours of meeting. The player invited by the USTA gave war to a very imprecise Anisimova (48 unforced errors by Scott's 21). Despite this, the 19-year-old tennis player was able to win and She will look to the Greek Maria Sakkari (15th) for a place in the round of 16. Indeed, Sakkari also had to trace his match against the American Bernarda Pera (2-6, 6-3 and 6-2) to reach the third phase of the US Open for the third time in his career, which he has never passed.

With few complications it solved Karolina Muchova (20th) her match against the Russian Anna Kalinskaya. In 1 hour and 20 minutes of match, the Russian slipped into the third round after beat 6-3 and 7-6 (4). Muchova, very successful with the serve, will have the Romanian as the next opponent Sorana Cirstea, who gave one of the bells of the day when she came back and beat Johanna Konta, ninth seed of the tournament, by 2-6, 7-6 (5) and 6-4. The match, marked by the forced errors of both given the level of nervousness that there was, and by a dramatic tie break in the second set, gives the pass to the Romanian against a woman who reached the quarterfinals in the last edition of the tournament.

One more American player, in this case Sloane Stephens (26th) only needed one hour and five minutes to beat Belarusian Olga Govortsova by a resounding 6-2 and 6-2. Govortsova, despite her great 89% success in hitting the first serves, saw Stephens break her serve up to five times. The 2017 tournament champion will find herself in her next match against the dreaded Serena Williams, in which it will be a duel between two American tennis stars. Another game liquidated by the fast track was that of the Croatian Donna Vekic (18th) against the Romanian Patricia Maria Tig, whom she erased from the track with a clear 6-2 and 6-1. Vekic will face Pironkova, a woman who has beaten Garbiñe Muguruza today. The rain appeared in the last moments of the day and prevented, in addition to the match between Sorribes and Mertens, the match they were playing Ekaterina Alexandrova (21st) and Catherine McNally concluded, so tomorrow it will resume with a 6-4, 3-6 draw.

Results of the day.