Iga Swiatek dominated for a place in the second week of the US Open, with the top seed defeating Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-4, 6-2 on Saturday.
The world No. 1 Pole continued her march through the draw of the event she won in 2022.
Swiatek claimed her 56th win of the season, holding onto her elead on the WTA. She has lost only two matches this season in the US, to Ekaterina Alexandrova in Miami and Aryna Sabalenka in Cincinnati.
She is competing as the No.1 seed at a Slam for the 11th time. Swiatek produced 19 winners in the 91 minute victory.
Fifth seed Jasmine Paolini and No. 6 Jssica Pegula both advanced in straight sets into the second week of the major.
Paolini, runner-up this season at both Roland Garros and Wimbledon, dispatched Yulia Putintseva 6-3, 6-4, while New Yorker Pegula held off a late charge from 21-year-old Jessica Bouzas Maniero.
Paolini is the first Italian player in the Open era to reach all Grand Slam rounds of 16 in a single calendar year after also getting to the Australian fourth round.
Pegula, whose quiet personality fails to move even her home crowd, quietly went about her business as she won the 12th of her previous 13 matches, with a title in Toronto and a final at Cincinnati.
Pegula took an early lead in the second set but had to hold off her Spanish opponent to advance.
“I was playing solid, I didn’t do anything crazy or bad or amazing,’ Pegula said. “I was very consistent.
“I was able to close out II when she got back into it in the second set. Playing a new opponent, there are a lot of variables. I was just trying to feel the game at the start.”
Pegula has reached the fourth round at Flushing Meadows for a third consecutive year.
Former top 10 player and 2023 Open semi-finalist Karolina Muchova won three matches in a row for the first time this season, with her 6-4, 6-2 win over Anastasia Potapova carrying her into a clash with Paolini.
Muchova underwent wrist surgery last season which threatened to wreck her career; but after coming back before Wimbledon she has already reached a final in Palermo.
The 28-year-old Czech spent just 73 minutes in defeating Potapova; Muchova said she had no expectations heading into the major after her injury dramas.
“At the start of the tournament I had zero thoughts about how far I could go.
“I didn’t know what to expect from myself. I didn’t play much this year, so I was just trying to be focused on the first match – that’s usually the trickiest one.
“I’m really, really grateful and happy that I made it now to the fourth round.”
Two-time finalist Caroline Wozniacki secured a second-week spot for the eighth time as she put out French qualifier Jessika Ponchet 6-3, 6-2.
The Dane who returned to tennis after motherhood, joked that good pal Serena Williams, whose last match was here three years ago, did not come to her match during a Saturday visit.
“I’m pretty mad at her for not showing up to my match. I saw her watching Tommy (Paul). I think we have to talk about that a bit later,” Wozniacki joked.
Liudmila Samsonova hammered American Ashlyn Krueger, 6-1, 6-1 to move into a match with Swiatek.
