2021 US Open, women's singles: Sabalenka advances, Svitolina beats Halep
Number two seed Aryna Sabalenka has qualified for her first US Open quarter-final. She beat 15th seed Elise Mertens of Belgium, 6-4, 6-1, in an hour and 10 minutes. Sabalenka will take on Barbora Krejcikova in the quarters. The 2021 French Open champion beat Garbine Muguruza 6-3, 7-6. Meanwhile, Elina Svitolina tamed Simona Halep 6-3,6-3 in straight sets. Here's more.
After her victory, Sabalenka said she is happy to reach the quarters amid the presence of fans and the atmosphere. "I'm just really happy to be in the quarter-finals here because I really like playing at the US Open, especially with the crowd, and the atmosphere is really enjoyable here," Sabalenka said.
This is the second successive quarter-final progression for Sabalenka at Grand Slams. She now has a 6-2 lead in terms of the H2H record against Mertens. Sabalenka fired 22 winners to Mertens' 13 and despite accounting for 10 double faults, the World No.2 booked her trip into the elite eight after converting four of her five breakpoints.
Canadian teenager Leylah Fernandez staged a remarkable comeback to reach her maiden Grand Slam quarters. She overcame Angelique Kerber of Germany, 4-6, 7-6(5), 6-2, in 2 hours and 15 minutes. Fernandez, who knocked out Naomi Osaka in the previous round, fired in 45 winners against Kerber. She also converted two of the three breakpoints as Kerber failed to script any.
Fernandez will take on Svitolina next after the latter overcame Halep. Svitolina has now extended her overall head-to-head lead to 6-4 against Halep. Svitolina has beaten Halep for the first time at a Grand Slam event. She had lost against Halep twice at Slams prior to this win. Svitolina has a 37-16 win-loss record in 2021. She has won nine successive matches.
