Thursday was a good day for favorites at the US Open, as just 4 out of 16 matches have ended up with wins of players rated lower related to odds during the completion of second round in women's singles tournament. This was not a cakewalk for some of the top names though, as we could witness some really interesting battles on this day.
Svitolina endures Pavlyuchenkova
Elina Svitolina prevailed in an intense three-sets battle against Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. The Ukrainian was a favorite ahead of this match, but the 2021 Roland Garros runner-up showed up really well and made very difficult conditions to overcome for Svitolina during the battle, which lasted 2:48 hours. The opening set was a festive of great hitting from both sides. Svitolina created more danger during her opponent's service games in this set, but it was Pavlyuchenkova, who used her chances as late as in 12th game, which decided the set on her favour. Second set was also a tight contest, but Svitolina managed to force a decider. The 26th seed started third set from a front foot, leading by 4-0. Pavlyuchenkova has tried to come back, but despite closing the gap to just one break, it was not enough. Svitolina won by 5-7 6-4 6-4 and faces Jessica Pegula in one of the hit clashes of 3rd round. The best ranked American was a banker favorite ahead of the match against Patricia Maria Tig, and scored a routine 6-3 6-1 victory.
Jabeur and Kasatkina survive in three-setters
Ons Jabeur has won the battle against health issues during her first round's match, won in straight sets over Camila Osorio. The Tunisian paired up with Linda Noskova in an intriguing second round's match. The 18 years-old Czech has showed up really well in her first round's match against Madison Brengle and was surely not written-off from taking up the fight against the world's number 5. The match was a diffuclt test for Jabeur, but she made the job done eventually, winning by 7-6(7) 4-6 6-3. The youngster was a really tough opponent for the last year's runner-up and got very close to take the sensational win, while leading 3-2 with a break in decisive set. Jabeur denied an upset by winning 4 games in a row and moved into 3rd round with a score 7-6(7) 4-6 6-3. Another Czech will be Jabeur's opponent in 3rd round, as she plays against 31th seed Marie Bouzkova there.
Daria Kasatkina played an exciting match against the 2020 Australian Open champion - Sofia Kenin. Kenin was struggling with leg injury, but resisted to play on the good level, which resulted with a really good start of this match for the American. Kenin played a really good stuff, starting from the lead 5-0 and won this set by 6-2 finally, after just 30 minutes of play. Kenin followed the blow in second set, starting from the 2-0 lead and had a chance to extend her lead to double-break gap, while having a breakpoint in 3rd game. Kasatkina held this game, which started her come back as it occured later on. The Russian found the better rythm on serve and managed to overcome the well-playing opponent in this set to move settlement into decider. Third set was a rollercoaster, as Kenin worked for another chance to cross the finish line with a win. The American was leading with a break twice, but Kasatkina performed another comeback, breaking Kenin's serve 3 times in a row since being 2-3 down and won the whole thing by 2-6 6-4 6-4. Greet Minnen will be her opponent in third round. The Belgian won the battle between the qualifiers and defeated Sachia Vickery with a score 6-3 4-6 6-4.
Winning series comes to an end
Yafan Wang has performed one of the most notable upsets in opening round, while eliminating last year's semifinalist Caroline Garcia. The Chinese was approaching her second round's match against Katie Boulter on the roll of 11 matches won in a row, but her series got ended up by the Brit. Boulter came back from being a set down and prevailed in three sets, winning by 5-7 6-1 6-4. The last one was especially tight, as both the players were holding serves well till 8th game. Wang was the first one to create two breakpoint chances, but Boulter performed a crucial hold for 4-4. The Brit created her first breakpoint in this set as in the following game and converted it, which occured to be decisive for the fates of whole match. Despite facing another two BPs from Wang in 10th game, Boulter served for the match, approaching 3rd round in second consecutive Grand Slam, following her run in Wimbledon. Peyton Stearns will be her next opponent. The American levels her best Grand Slam achievement from this year's Roland Garros, where she also approached 3rd round. Stearns advanced into this stage in Flushing Meadows without losing a set so far in the matches against Viktoriya Tomova and Clara Tauson.
