WHAT HAPPENED: The Belarusian takeover continues at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.
Aliaksandra Sasnovich beat No. 11 seed Daria Kasatkina, 6-2, 7-6, on a toasty Thursday afternoon to reach the third round of the US Open for the first time in five appearances. Belarusian women had already made history in Flushing Meadows as four competitors from the country made the second round of a Grand Slam for the first time.
Kasatkina made an uncharacteristic number of unforced errors in the first set, as the Russian typically does a great job of making her opponents work and using her guile to put them in awkward positions.
But she turned it around in the second set, leading by a break for a large majority of it. But Sasnovich hung around long enough to force a tiebreak, despite her opponent serving for the set on two occasions. The World No. 33 entered the match No. 3 on the WTA Tour in tiebreaks won (9-5), and she won the final four points in the second set to add to that tally, as Kasatkina sailed a forehand after one hour, 33 minutes.
Sasnovich has now won two of five meetings against Kasatkina, who had been victorious in their previous three matchups. The 24-year-old was able to save four of the seven break points she faced, hitting 21 winners in the match. Kasatkina, however, struck just 14 winners to 33 unforced errors.
WHAT IT MEANS: Sasnovich will next face talented No. 20 seed Naomi Osaka of Japan, who advanced to the third round with a 50-minute dismissal of Julia Glushko. Osaka won the pair's only previous meeting in Tokyo two years ago.
Sasnovich will have an opportunity to match her best major performance, as she reached the Round of 16 at Wimbledon earlier this year. The Japanese star Osaka may have lost three consecutive matches before arriving in New York, but she has shown her potential by triumphing at Indian Wells in March.
It is already a breakthrough season for Sasnovich, who is projected to break into the Top 30 of the WTA Rankings for the first time after the tournament. It is the first year the Belarusian has reached at least the second round of all four Slams. She is now 4-6 against Top 20 opponents in 2018, with her best victory coming against then-World No. 7 Petra Kvitova in the first round at Wimbledon.
MATCH POINT: Three of the four Belarusian women are still playing. If the 24-year-old Sasnovich advances, she would potentially face compatriot Aryna Sabalenka in the fourth round. Sabalenka plays No. 5 seed Kvitova next.
