Wimbledon champion and world No.4 Angelique Kerber has held off a powerful challenge by Sweden’s Johanna Larsson to advance to the third round of the US Open.
Larsson, ranked 83rd, mounted a rally after falling behind 4-1 in the second set and fended off two match points at 5-3 before winning four straight games to steal the second set 7-5.
But Kerber, the 2016 US Open champion, finally stopped Larsson’s momentum in the third set, breaking her to go up 5-4, then served out the gruelling match to win 6-2 5-7 6-4 in more than two hours.
“I think we both really played on a really high level from the first point,” Kerber said.
“In the end it was one or two points to decide the match.”
Hard-hitting Czech Petra Kvitova also advanced to the third round, defeating China’s Yafan Wang 7-5 6-3 to keep her dream of winning a third grand slam title alive.
The fifth seed converted five of seven break points and fired down four aces to send 24-year-old Wang packing in a match that lasted just under two hours on another hot and humid day at Flushing Meadows.
The match looked like it would be a one-sided affair when the twice Wimbledon champion raced to a 4-1 lead in the first set but Wang came roaring back to level the set at 5-5.
Kvitova would not be denied, however, unleashing her powerful forehand and elevating her play to capture the final two games of the set before cruising to victory.
Next up for the Czech is a third-round meeting with 20-year-old 26th seed Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus, who beat Vera Zvonareva 6-3 7-6 (9-7) to reach the third round at a grand slam for the first time.
Kvitova won their only previous meeting in three sets on the hardcourts at the Miami Open this year.
Sixth seed Caroline Garcia was pushed hard in a 6-2 1-6 6-4 victory over Monica Puig but Japanese 20th seed Naomi Osaka needed just 50 minutes to defeat Julia Glushko 6-2 6-0.
Eleventh seed Daria Kasatkina was beaten, though, the Wimbledon quarter-finalist falling 6-2 7-6 (7-3) to Aliaksandra Sasnovich.
Madison Keys cruised into the third round, beating fellow American Bernarda Pera 6-4 6-1.
The US Open runner-up last year served eight aces and never lost her serve in the match that lasted one hour, 12 minutes.