Second seed Aryna Sabalenka eased past Daria Kasatkina 6-1 6-3 to make the US Open quarter-finals for the third year in a row on Monday, subduing her opponent with her powerful forehand inside Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Australian Open champion Sabalenka will rise to the top of the WTA rankings when they are updated after the tournament and was playing with the confidence of a world number one as she pounded Kasatkina with 31 winners.
Kasatkina lost in straight sets to the Belarusian last month in Cincinnati and had clearly not cracked the code, as Sabalenka overwhelmed her at every turn.
Sabalenka next faces China’s Zheng Qinwen, who knocked out 2022 finalist Ons Jabeur in straight sets.
On the men’s side, third seed Daniil Medvedev finished work ‘early’ by taming Australian Alex de Minaur 2-6 6-4 6-1 6-2 to move into the U.S. Open quarter-finals for the fourth time in five years.
Medvedev has been working the graveyard shift at the US Open, with his previous two matches starting one day and ending early the next, but after a sluggish start he stepped into high gear to speed past 13th seeded De Minaur.
Medvedev, the 2021 champion, led their head-to-head meetings 4-2 coming into the match but the Australian had won their last two contests, including a straight sets quarter-final win at the Canadian Open tune-up event.
