Taylor Fritz conquered a nervous start, Jessica Pegula expanded her consistency and Emma Navarro continued to build on last year’s Breakout season when all three Americans opened to the third round of the US on Wednesday with convincing victories on Wednesday.
On an airy afternoon at Flushing Meadows, Fritz recovered from a slow opening to beat the Lloyd Harris of South Africa 4-6, 7-6 (3), 6-2, 6-4. The fourth seed, second here last year, was forced to navigate a difficult test against the great serving Harris, who has rebuilt his career after sawing his ranking ranking fall outside the top 300 in the world.
Fritz dropped the serve early and handed the first set when Harris’ Forehand found his reach. But the American stood behind his own delivery, hit a total of 17 aces and dominated the second set of Tiebreak to deliver the game. From there, he played with the authority that was expected from a top five seed, breaking twice in the third set and the energy of the crowd in Louis Armstrong Stadium drove to finish the victory in just under three hours.
“It is always difficult when a man like Lloyd comes out freely,” said Fritz. “He served great and put a lot of pressure on me asked. I just had to hang tough, get through the breaker, and then I felt that I found my rhythm.”
If Fritz had to sweat, Pegula’s passage was easier. The World No 4, which reached her first Grand Slam final here a year ago, relaxed the Russian Anna Blinkova 6-1, 6-3 on the transport court. Showing the patience and the precision that her calling card became, Pegula broke six times and hit 30 winners to close the game in a scarce 64 minutes.
The 31-year-old is now the first American woman since Madison Keys who reaches the third round in New York for six years, which underlines her reliability at the Majors. She will then be confronted with two -time large champion Victoria Azarenka, who continued with a victory over Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.
“I knew that if Anna came in a groove, she could be really dangerous,” Pegula said afterwards. “I just wanted to take the check immediately, not let them dictate. I am happy with how I kept my foot on the gas.”
Pegula, who has already collected Tour-High 20 victories on American soil this season, admitted that the challenge to solve problems on the field keeps her motivated deep in her career. “You have to be fearless to play this sport, because one of you will lose for everyone there. But if you make your way and win, that feeling is pretty unparalleled.”
The increase in homegrown players was further strengthened by Navarro, the 23-year-old who backed her semi-final run here last year with a commander 6-2, 6-1 resignation of Caty McNally. Navarro, who struggled in the first round of Sunday on Wang Yafan, was relentless in the operation of McNally’s inconsistency, converted seven of the eight breaking points and sealed the victory in just over an hour.
“It was absolutely faster than I expected, but not easy,” said Navarro. “I feel that there is something special to be here: the energy, the crowd, it really pushes me.”
The next assignment from Navarro is a discouraging: two -time large champion Barbora Krejcikova, a player she beat in Wimbledon earlier this summer. If she is making progress again, a potential collision of the fourth round with the 17-year-old Mirra Andreeva looms up, while a quarter-final date with good friend Pegula remains a possibility.
The victories for Fritz, Pegula and Navarro caused a floating day for American tennis, in which disappointment no. 30 Seed Brandon Nakashima’s 4-6, 7-6 (2), 7-5, 3-6, 7-6 (10) defeat of Jerome Kym of Switzerland on the court.
For now, the focus on the trio of our contenders continued to underline their title references. “It’s a long way,” said Fritz, “but days like this, with the support and atmosphere, it really feels like home.”
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