Serena Williams looms large, but Ashleigh Barty is keeping her eyes firmly on the prize after passing the sternest test yet of her US Open title credentials to equal her best-ever run in New York.
Barty delivered a serving masterclass class to reach the last 16 for the second straight year with a clinical 7-5, 6-3 third-round victory over rising Greek Maria Sakkari. Underlined by eight aces, the victory vaulted Barty to within a win of a quarter-final blockbuster against Williams, who continued her relentless quest for a record-equalling 24th grand slam singles title with a 6-3, 6-2 destruction of Karolina Muchova.
Barty and Williams were also slated to collide in the Wimbledon quarter-finals, only for Australia’s then-world No.1 to suffer a shock fourth-round loss to unseeded American Alison Riske. Little wonder the second seed isn’t looking beyond her next match on Sunday against 18th seed Qiang Wang. “I only ever look at my next match,” Barty said.
Barty certainly won’t be taking Wang lightly, especially given the Chinese is the highest-ranked rival she will play since downing Madison Keys in the French Open quarter-finals two months and 16 matches ago. The Queenslander can take comfort from the fact she has beaten Wang in straight sets in their two previous encounters, both last year.
She has particularly fond memories of their most recent encounter, when Barty captured the biggest title of her career to that point last October in Zhuhai.
“That was the most magical way to end my season last year. It was incredible,” Barty said. “I remember I started the final very well. The courts in Zhuhai are very similar to those in Brisbane. I think it was the same architect that actually built them with the roof and everything. It kind of had a sense of home, a very familiar setting, a very familiar court. An incredible match from both of us. It was high quality, a good level.”
Sakkari, seeded 30th, had beaten Barty last year in Indian Wells but the French Open champion was a class above this time around.
“Overall today there were parts of the match I was really happy with. I feel like a few of the things that I’ve been lacking over the last month kind of came together a little bit today,” Barty said of her best display of the American hardcourt swing. “I felt like I served a lot better, controlled the ball off the first strike more often than not. In the bigger moments, I felt like there was some better stuff there.”
The Aussie superstar also remains a chance of securing back-to-back US Open doubles titles after winning her first-round match on Friday with fellow former world No.1 Victoria Azarenka. They combined for a 4-6 6-1 6-1 victory over Margarita Gasparyan and Monica Niculescu.
Alex de Minaur isn’t finished yet after claiming the biggest scalp of his career to surge into the US Open fourth round in New York. De Minaur wowed fans on The Grandstand with a 6-2, 6-4, 2-6, 6-3 triumph over seventh-seeded former Open runner-up Kei Nishikori on Friday that rocketed the 20-year-old livewire into the second week of a grand slam for the first time.
The pulsating victory – his first over a top-10 rival – leaves de Minaur one win away from a potential quarter-final showdown with Roger Federer. But he’s keeping his feet firmly on the ground ahead of a last-16 match-up on Sunday with either Grigor Dimitrov or Polish qualifying lucky loser Kamil Majchrzak.
“It’s just another day. Nothing changes. My mentality going in is going to be the same,” de Minaur said. “You know, I’m just happy to be here. There’s not much to complain about. I’m in New York, playing the US Open, some great weather, and playing some great tennis. Hopefully I can just keep it rolling. I’ll take it as a big opportunity, as I did for this match. This is where I want to be, so I’ll go out there and leave 100 per cent. Nothing changes.”
His watershed win over Nishikori atoned for a gut-wrenching five-set loss at the same stage last year to Marin Cilic, the Croatian who beat the Japanese superstar in the 2014 final at Flushing Meadows.
“Obviously last year was a bit of a heartbreaking match for me. Very big opportunity leading two sets to love up against Cilic and then losing in a heartbreaker 7-5 in the fifth. It stung a lot,” de Minaur said. “But you learn so much from it. You know that that’s your level. It helped me a lot today. At one stage it looked like maybe the same thing was going to happen, but I just had to regroup and put out all those negative thoughts in my head and just play point by point, just make sure to be very positive and leave it all out there, intensity. And I’m glad I was able to do that, play a great game in the fourth set to break him, and then sort of hold on to my serve.”
The winner of hardcourt titles in Sydney and Washington this year, de Minaur has earned himself a huge opportunity to make his maiden grand slam quarter-final.
If he gets through his next match with either Dimitrov or Majchrzak, he face either Federer or the winner of Friday’s third-round match between David Goffin and Pablo Carreno Busta.
