2020 US Open: Sofia Kenin gets the better of Ons Jabeur; gets Mertens next

Sofia Kenin, the second seed at the 2020 US Open, reached the second week with a win over Tunisia’s Ons Jabeur in the third round. The American won 7-6(4), 6-3 against the 27th seed in an hour and 39 minutes.

This was the second meeting between the two this year, with their previous match coming at the 2020 Australian Open quarter-finals. After the match, talking about her opponent, Kenin said, “I’ve played her a few times. I know her game really well. She came out playing really good. I just kept fighting. I knew that if I could just maintain my level, keep my composure, eventually, I would break her.”

Then, talking about the match, she added, “It was very physical. We moved a lot. It was long points. I feel like both of us were quite tired towards the end. I just told myself to keep pushing, I'm winning. But she never let up.”

The 21-year-old now leads the head-to-head against Jabeur 5-1. Kenin’s fourth-round opponent is the 16th-seeded Elise Mertens. The Belgian defeated American Cathy McNally in their round-of-32 clash 7-5, 6-1.

2020 US Open: Madison Keys forced to retire against Alize Cornet

At the top of the second half, France’s Alize Cornet reached the fourth round. Cornet who was playing against the United States’ Madison Keys advanced into the second week after the seventh seed withdrew mid-match with a neck injury. At the time of Keys’ retirement, Cornet was leading 7-6(4), 3-2.

Cornet, who is the last remaining French player in the draw, talked about Keys’ decision to retire from the match. She said, “I could see, at the beginning of the second set, she started to be in pain. She’s not the kind of girl that retires easily, so I guess she must be in real pain, and I’m sorry for her.”

Describing her game across the truncated match, Cornet analysed, “The most important thing is that I was holding my serve really well, I was consistent, solid. I’m sad about the situation, but I’m happy because this was the last Slam where I didn’t reach the fourth round. I worked really hard for it, so I’m glad.”

Cornet will play Tsvetana Pironkova for a spot in the quarterfinals of the 2020 US Open.

Photo Credit: Brad Penner/USTA

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