Madison Keys eased into the third round of the 2024 US Open on Wednesday afternoon with a comfortable 6-4, 6-0 victory over Australian qualifier Maya Joint on Arthur Ashe.
Keys, who lost the 2017 US Open final against Sloane Stephens, needed just 62 minutes to see off the challenge of the 18-year-old Joint, who is competing in the main draw of a grand slam for the first time.
The World No. 14 was impeccable on serve throughout Monday’s encounter and broke her opponent four times, completing a second-set rout in just 25 minutes.
Keys, who is yet to drop a set at the US Open, advances to a third-round clash with Belgium’s Elise Mertens, who eased to a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Ajla Tomljanovic on Wednesday afternoon.
Elsewhere, there was to be no plain sailing for reigning Wimbledon champion and World No. 8 Barbora Krejcikova, who went down to a 4-6, 5-7 defeat against Romanian qualifier Elena-Gabriela Ruse.
Krejcikova, who reached the Olympic quarterfinals earlier in August, struggled in the opening set of her first-round match against Spanish qualifier Marina Bassols Ribera and never looked like replicating the form that saw her win at Wimbledon last month. She has now failed to advance beyond the second round of the US Open in each of the past three years.
Olympic champion Qinwen Zheng again recovered from losing the opening set to book her place in the third round. Zheng lost an opening set tiebreak against Russia’s Erika Andreeva before dominating the second and third sets, winning 6-7 (3), 6-1, 6-2. Zheng also lost the opening set in her first-round clash against American wild card Amanda Anisimova before rallying to reach the second round. She now faces a third-round clash against Germany’s Jule Niemeier.
Meanwhile, American hopeful Taylor Townsend’s US Open campaign came to an end with a straight sets defeat against Spanish No. 26 seed Paula Badosa in the opening match of the day on Louis Armstrong.
In the men’s draw, Frances Tiafoe booked his place in the third round for the fifth year in a row when his opponent Alexander Shevchenko retired early in the third set.
Tiafoe won a tight opening set 6-4 before comfortably taking the second set 6-1 after his Kazakh opponent picked up a knee injury. Shevchenko retired after being broken in the opening game of the third set.
Fellow US hopeful Brandon Nakashima followed up an impressive first-round victory over 15th seed Holger Rune with an equally impressive straight victory over France’s Arthur Dazaux, winning 6-4, 6-4, 6-2 in just over two hours.
However, there was to be no fairytale for 30-year-old American qualifier Mitchell Krueger, who had won just one grand slam match in his entire career prior to this year’s US Open.
Krueger took the opening two sets against Czech 32 seed Jiri Lehecka, bageling his opponent in a dominant second set. Lehecka battled back, however, winning the third and fourth sets 6-4 before breaking Krueger at 5-5 in a thrilling final set and holding his nerve to serve out and reach the third round.
Meanwhile, World No. 4 Alexander Zverev, runner-up at the US Open in 2020 and the French Open this year – booked his place in the round-of-32 with the minimum of fuss, beating France’s Alexandre Muller 6-4, 7-6(5), 6-1 on Armstrong on Wednesday afternoon. Zverev emerged from a closely-fought second-set tiebreak and raced through the third set in 28 minutes. His quest for a maiden grand slam title continues with a third-round clash against Argentina’s Tomás Martín Etcheverry on Friday.
