Pegula advances with comfortable win over Blinkova

US Open 2025

Dates: August 24 through September 7 in Flushing Meadows, New York

Jessica Pegula, the US Open’s runner-up last year, defeated Anna Blinkova comfortably to advance to the third round in New York.

In just 65 minutes, the fourth-seeded American won at Arthur Ashe Stadium and defeated world number 80 Blinkova 6-1, 6-3.

Aryna Sabalenka, the world’s number one, defeated Pegula, 31, in the showpiece at Flushing Meadows last year.

Pegula had not reached the quarter-finals of any of the four Grand Slam singles competitions prior to that run.

Since then, she has struggled to maintain consistency, including a shock first-round exit at Wimbledon that saw her reach the final eight of all three majors this year.

Pegula won 30 of her opponent’s serve points as she defeated her own, but she still has room for improvement. She won 53% of her second serve points.

The opening set was secured by three clinical breakbreaks of serve, and a trickier second followed. Before Pegula won, both sides took serve breaks before winning.

After defeating Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-3, 6-3, Pegula will face veteran and three-time runner-up Victoria Azarenka next.

In a previous round of the tournament, 10th seed Emma Navarro defeated Japan’s Moyuka Uchijima 6-4, 6-2, and defeated former Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova.