Aryna Sabalenka completed a comfortable 6-2 6-4 victory over Elise Mertens to book her spot in the quarter-finals of the US Open at Flushing Meadows. It is the fourth time in succession Sabalenka has reached the last eight in New York and she faces Olympic gold medalist Qinwen Zheng next. In the men’s draw, Alexander Zverev, Frances Tiafoe and Taylor Fritz all won to reach the quarters.
Aryna Sabalenka made light work of Belgium’s Elise Mertens to reach a fourth straight US Open quarter-final and keep her hopes of landing a first title at Flushing Meadows.
The second seed once again displayed her ferocious power, hitting 41 winners in 97 minutes on court to continue her ominous run in New York.
“I’m really glad that I was able to stay focused,” Sabalenka said. “[Mertens] played unbelievable tennis, especially in the second set. It was really tight.
“Every game was back and forth. It could have gone one way or another. I’m really happy with this win. It was a high-quality match.”
Sabalenka broke twice in the first set and saved break points to serve out for a one-set lead in a little over half an hour.
The second was a close affair. Both earned break points, but it was Sabalenka who came up with the goods when it mattered most.
The win means Sabalenka is through to face China’s Qinwen Zheng in the last eight after the Olympic gold medallist battled past 24th seed Donna Vekic in three sets, while a repeat of last year’s final is no longer possible after the shock exit of defending champion Coco Gauff.
On the other side of the draw, No. 1 seed Iga Swiatek is in action today against Liudmila Samsonova as she bids to join Sabalenka in the quarters.
Zverev joins home hopefuls in quarters
In the men’s draw, German fourth seed Alexander Zverev recovered from dropping the first set to complete a 3-6 6-1 6-2 6-2 victory over America’s Brandon Nakashima in two hours and 36 minutes.
The 27-year-old is a former Flushing Meadows finalist and took one step closer towards his dream of landing a maiden Grand Slam.
He will face another home hope in 12th seed Taylor Fritz for a place in the semi-finals.
Fritz also lost the first set in his match against Casper Ruud but bounced back to win in four.
Also in the bottom half of the draw, Frances Tiafoe dispatched Novak Djokovic’s conqueror Alexei Popyrin.
Tiafoe came through a gruelling five-setter against Ben Shelton in the third round but showed no signs of fatigue, winning 6-4 7-6(3) 2-6 6-3 to set up a clash with ninth seed Grigor Dimitrov.
