After easing through the first two rounds, No. 3 seed Jessica Pegula overcame her first bout of adversity with aplomb, rallying for a 1-6, 6-4, 6-3 defeat of No. 31 seed Canadian Leylah Fernandez to advance into the Round of 16 at the U.S. Open Friday in New York.
Pegula, the runner-up in the 2024 U.S. Open, found herself in a 3-0 hole to begin her match against 2021 runner-up Fernandez. She won just one of her three service games in the opening set, failing to save a break point on her serve or force one on Fernandez’s serve.
“I don’t really feel like I was in the first set, figuring out where I was going to serve and where I was going to hit the first ball,” Pegula said after the match. “I do think (Fernandez) played a little bit different today than when I’ve played her in the past. I just wasn’t quite moving my feet up to the ball. I was just a little lazy to start off.”
The American, who would rise to the World No. 1 ranking should she win her first Grand Slam this month, continued to face break points on her serve over the final two sets but saved 8 of 9 after the first set.
Fernandez, conversely, failed to save any of the break chances on her serve over the final two sets and finished with 13 winners to 25 unforced errors. After Pegula was broken up 5-3 in the second set, she immediately broke back to even the match and then came away with the only break of the third set to go up 3-1, coasting to the win from there.
It was Pegula’s 11th win of 2026 in which she rallied from down a set, tied with No. 4 seed Coco Gauff for the most on tour this season.
Top-seeded Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus did not similarly struggle on Friday, coasting to a 6-3, 6-4 win over Uzbekistan’s Kamilla Rakhimova.
Sabalenka was dominant on her serve, matching 10 aces to just one double fault, winning 74.6% of her service points and never facing a break point.
It was the 16th straight U.S. Open victory for the two-time defending champion, the longest streak since Serena Williams won 26 straight matches in the event from 2012-15.
“When I first came (to the U.S. Open), I felt like the top level was something untouchable, something impossible,” Sabalenka said after her victory. “I wish I would have had a different mindset back then.”
Sabalenka’s run of not facing any other seeded competitors will continue in the Round of 16 as she’s set to face unseeded American Taylor Townsend, who outlasted No. 15 seed Diana Shnaider of Russia for a 6-2, 6-7 (3), 6-3 victory to advance to the fourth round of the U.S. Open for the second straight year and third time overall.
Townsend, who has never reached the fourth round at any of the other Grand Slams, came away with the decisive break at 4-3 in the third set. She saved 10 of 12 break-point chances on her own serve while converting 5 of 7 on Shnaider’s serve.
“I’m f***ing pumped,” Townsend said of the pending marquee matchup with Sabalenka.
That wasn’t the only upset of the day, as No. 26 seed Emma Navarro delivered a 6-3, 7-5 sweep of No. 7 Czech Karolina Muchova behind a late break in each of the two sets to create separation.
The third-round match came easier for Navarro after she needed three sets to win each of her first two matches. It’s also the first time she’s reached the fourth round of the U.S. Open since her 2024 semifinal run which remains her deepest run at any major.
In other early Friday action, No. 16 Sorana Cirstea of Romania took care of No. 19 Italian Jasmine Paolini 6-3, 6-3 in 75 minutes. That sets up a match against Pegula for a spot in the quarterfinals.
No. 11 Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine also advanced to the Round of 16 with a 6-3, 6-2 romp over No. 18 Russian Ekaterina Alexandrova.
–Field Level Media
