Halep outlasts Rybakina in 3-set thriller, Muguruza and Djokovic sail

Romania’s twice Grand Slam winner Simona Halep outlasted Kazakhstan’s Elena Rybakina 7-6(11) 4-6 6-3 in a dramatic third-round showdown at the US Open on Friday.

Garbine Muguruza has matched her best run at the tournament by reaching the fourth round. The two-time Grand Slam champion beat Victoria Azarenka 6-4, 3-6, 6-2.

Muguruza has won Wimbledon and the French Open, but the No. 9 seed from Spain had reached the fourth round at Flushing Meadows just once, in 2017.

Azarenka was runner-up in New York last year for the third time. The No. 18 seed from Belarus was eliminated when she double-faulted on match point.

Twelfth seed Halep saved four set points before converting on her seventh courtesy of a double fault by Rybakina in an epic, 18-minute first-set tiebreak in front of a rapt and roaring crowd inside Louis Armstrong Stadium.

Rybakina fired back and built a two-break lead through the first three games of the second set, taking a medical timeout after the fifth to have her left foot taped, while Halep received a shoulder massage with the lead narrowed to 3-2.

Rybakina broke again in the ninth game, helped by one of Halep’s three double faults in the second set, before closing it out in the next game with an ace, one of her 14 in the match.

After sitting on the sidelines between sets, a renewed Halep wrested the momentum in the third, cleaning up her form significantly with only six unforced errors compared to 30 in the previous two sets and winning 85% of her first-serve points.

“It’s been a very tough match,” said Halep after reaching the fourth round at Flushing Meadows for the first time since 2016. “I knew I had to be strong, I knew I had to be calm.”

Djokovic, Andreescu win:  World number one Novak Djokovic sailed into the third round of and moved a step closer to achieving a calendar year Grand Slam while 2019 women’s champion Bianca Andreescu extended her unbeaten run to nine matches.

Djokovic beat Tallon Griekspoor 6-2 6-3 6-2 and the top seed said he had found his groove after dropping a set in his first round victory over the unheralded Holger Rune.

“I’m very pleased with the level of my tennis. All is going in the right direction,” said Djokovic.

Canada’s Andreescu, who has never lost a main draw match at Flushing Meadows, was down a break four times against American Lauren Davis but won the crucial points to register a 6-4 6-4 victory.

“I feel like I have a commitment now to keep it straight sets every match, which adds a bit of pressure on my shoulders,” Andreescu said. “Honestly tennis is super chaotic and I never try to play three sets.”

Her compatriot Denis Shapovalov was in fine form as he defeated Roberto Carballes Baena 7-6(7) 6-3 6-0 in a match that quickly unravelled for the Spaniard, who beat Shapovalov at last year’s French Open.

“I obviously definitely wanted to get my revenge,” Shapovalov joked.

Last year’s runner-up Alexander Zverev needed only 74 minutes to thrash Spain’s Albert Ramos-Vinolas 6-1 6-0 6-3, wrapping up the match with three consecutive aces.

Agencies