Major champions vs. Top 10 seeds: Vondrousova through, Pegula holds firm

NEW YORK -- Friday’s schedule at the US Open offered a rare thread: three recent Grand Slam winners, no longer among the top-ranked players, crossing paths with Top 10 seeds.

So, who came out on top? The in-form players or the former champs trying to recapture that major mojo?

As it turned out, two Czech Republic players who have been battling injuries were able to channel their past glories.

Marketa Vondrousova, Wimbledon’s 2022 winner, took out No. 7 seed Jasmine Paolini in straight sets, while Barbora Krejcikova was a 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 winner over No. 10 Emma Navarro in a dramatic match that ran 2 hours and 30 minutes.

The only Top 10 seed to take out a former Slam winner? No. 4 Jessica Pegula, who defeated two-time Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka.

We break down those matches:

Vondrousova takes out Paolini in straight sets

Vondrousova, who has been termed “tricky” and “crafty” can sometimes be difficult to solve. She’s a clever lefty who likes to slice the ball -- but also has the ability to rip an ace right past you.

Two years ago, that diverse toolbox carried her to the title at Wimbledon.

On Friday Vondrousova booked a 7-6 (4), 6-1 victory over Paolini in a jam-packed Grandstand, reaching the fourth round of a major for the first time since last year’s French Open.

Vondrousova’s fourth-round match is against another recent Wimbledon champion, Elena Rybakina, who was an emphatic 6-1, 6-2 winner over Emma Raducanu.

“She’s playing great tennis and won easily today,” Vondrousova said of Rybakina. “I have nothing to lose. I love these matches.

“It’s incredible to be here again and play good tennis.”

Vondrousova’s ranking of No. 60 suggests this was an upset, but it really wasn’t. Vondrousova is now 2-0 against Paolini and this was her 15^th career victory over a Top 10 player. The last one? A straight-sets semifinal victory over World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka on the grass in Berlin.

The first-set tiebreak was a tutorial in variety. Vondrousova mixed in a healthy dose of slices and finished points by switching back to topspin, while Paolini lost four of her five service points.

Up 6-2, Vondrousova converted her third set point when Paolini missed a backhand long, her scream showing how much it meant.

The second set was defined by the sixth game, when Vondrousova and Paolini locked into a terrific, back-and-forth contest. Vondrousova finally converted her sixth break point when a Paolini backhand stab sailed long -- leading to another scream.

“It was a very important game,” Vondrousova said. “Big difference between 4-2 and 5-1. It was a crazy game -- and the key to the match.”

Vondrousova won 48 of her 70 service points and was unbroken. She hit 22 winners, against 16 unforced errors.

Paolini, who was broken twice, is now 18-4 in majors when up against players outside the Top 50. She was attempting to become the first Italian woman to reach back-to-back fourth rounds at the US Open since Roberta Vinci in 2016.

Pegula closes out Azarenka

Pegula crashed through a career-long barrier when she reached the US Open final a year ago. It came after a string of six straight losses in major quarterfinals.

After a disappointing first-round loss earlier this summer at Wimbledon, Pegula finds herself back in a familiar position -- the fourth round of a Grand Slam. Friday’s 6-1, 7-5 win in Arthur Ashe Stadium came over two-time Australian Open champion Azarenka.

“Last year this place was really special,” Pegula said in her on-court interview. “I had some amazing moments on this court. My results weren’t that amazing the last couple of months, so being able to turn it around really quickly was awesome.”

Next up for Pegula is the winner of the later match between Australian qualifier Priscilla Hon and Ann Li. 

It’s been a dozen years since Azarenka defended her title at the Australian Open, those back-to-back victories representing the crowning glory of her career. She also made three US Open finals, in 2012, 2013 and 2020, falling to Serena Williams twice and Naomi Osaka.

Lately, though, it’s been difficult.

Azarenka came into this US Open with a losing record and a ranking well outside the Top 100. But in one of her favorite cities, she put together back-to-back main-draw wins for the first time since last year’s US Open, defeating qualifier Hina Inoue in the first round and then No. 45-ranked Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.

The 36-year-old player has struggled with injuries this year and looked uncomfortable losing the first 10 points to Pegula. It was a foreshadowing of the match to come, as Pegula powered through the 32-minute first set.

The second was far more competitive and, at 65 minutes, more than twice as long.

Azarenka started serving better and moving better, too.

When a Pegula backhand found the net, Azarenka found herself serving for the set at 5-4. But the comeback effort left her drained and Pegula won the last three games.

The two, who practice together often in Florida, embraced at net. Pegula, who converted six of 15 break points against Azarenka, now holds a 4-3 head-to-head advantage.

 “We know each other’s games so well,” Pegula said. “I could tell she was struggling physically, so I just wanted to keep her moving.”

Krejcikova overcomes Navarro

Back in July, Navarro spoiled Krejcikova’s Wimbledon title defense with a three-set, third-round victory. On Friday night, the two-time major champion returned the favor, coming back to defeat Navarro 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 in a streaky and entertaining Grandstand match in New York.

“It definitely was a huge match for me,” Krejcikova said afterward. “The crowd pumped me up -- it wasn’t for me -- but thank you.”

After coming in with an 8-6 record, Krejcikova has put together three straight wins. This is the 27^th of her career over a Top 20 player; the 26^th came recently in Cincinnati over No. 13 Elina Svitolina.

Navarro was a semifinalist here a year ago, her best career result in a major. She had reached the fourth round in five of her past six majors.

After splitting the first two sets, Navarro won the first three games in the third, before Krejcikova flashed right back to win four straight herself.

The match came to a head with Krejcikova serving at 4-3. Navarro forged a pair of break points, but the Czech player fought them off with an unreturnable serve and bigger groundstrokes. Two backhand errors, forced by deep shots, gave Krejcikova that decisive game.

Krejcikova served it out and, after shaking hands with Navarro, let out a jubilant, furious roar.

 The difference? Krejcikova won the battle of service breaks, seven to six. She consistently hit bigger, as evidenced by her 33 winners and 53 unforced errors.