Aryna Sabalenka Dominates in US Open Third Round

NEW YORK – Under the lights at Flushing Meadows, Aryna Sabalenka didn’t so much ease into the third round as storm through it.

The top seed, already a four-time Grand Slam champion and the two-time defending US Open winner, dismantled Russian qualifier Polina Iatcenko 6-1, 6-1 on Wednesday night, a ruthless reminder of what her best hard-court tennis looks like.

Iatcenko, a 22-year-old making her debut in a Grand Slam main draw, barely had time to settle. Sabalenka tore out to a 5-0 lead in the opening set, unloading winners at will and dictating every rally. The Belarusian dropped just four points on serve in that first set, her power game clicking cleanly into place after a patchy few months on tour.

The scoreboard told one story. The body language told an even louder one. Sabalenka stalked the baseline, swinging freely, the hesitancy that crept into her game at Roland Garros and Wimbledon nowhere to be seen.

“Night atmosphere is always the best atmosphere,” she said afterward, and she played like someone who believes this court belongs to her.

Iatcenko, ranked 160th, finally got on the board late in the first set, then snatched a single break in the second to avoid a double-bagel. That was as far as the resistance went. Sabalenka immediately slammed the door, breaking back and rattling off the next three games to close the match with the same authority she started it.

This was her 15th straight victory at Flushing Meadows, a streak that underlines how sharply the US Open contrasts with the frustrations of her recent season. The early exit at the French Open, the disappointment at Wimbledon, and the indifferent form during the hard-court warmups had raised questions about her rhythm and confidence.

She answered some of those under the New York lights.

Sabalenka spoke of a shift not in technique, but in mindset. She told reporters she now feels “way stronger than I was in the middle of the season” mentally, and physically more secure as well. The obsession with flawless tennis, she suggested, has been pushed aside.

“I’m happy with my level. I’ve been working really hard, but I feel like I’m moving away from trying to be perfect on court,” she said. “I know that you cannot be perfect, and I’m just trying to work with what I have right now.”

What she had on Wednesday was more than enough.

Next comes 92nd-ranked Kamilla Rakhhimova of Uzbekistan in the third round, another chance for Sabalenka to extend her New York streak and sharpen the edge that once again makes her look like the player to beat on these hard courts.