Double title holder in New York, world No.1 Aryna Sabalenka defeated American Taylor Townsend (96th) on Sunday, eye-catching but ultimately dominated 6-4, 6-3 to reach the quarter-finals of the US Open.
In the first set, both players had great difficulty maintaining their serve, Aryna Sabalenka being the first to do so after no less than six games to lead 4-2.
The 28-year-old Belarusian immediately took a double break in advance (5-2), before losing her serve in a shutout and seeing Taylor Townsend come back to 5-4, 30-40. A winning service from Sabalenka averted the danger and a few points later, the boss of the circuit concluded the round with an authoritarian winning forehand.
The rest of the match was just as disjointed: Townsend broke the first in the second set to lead 3-1, before seeing his opponent line up five games in a row to punch his ticket to the quarters.
While Townsend (30) fails for the third time in his career in the round of 16 in New York, Sabalenka will try on Tuesday to reach the last four of the US Open for the sixth year in a row.
Forced to win the tournament to hope to maintain her place as world No.1, the four-time winner of major tournaments will face in the quarter-finals the Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk (11th) or the Czech Linda Noskova (6th), titled in July at Wimbledon.
