WHAT HAPPENED: No. 15 seed Elise Mertens of Belgium continues to impress at this year’s US Open, taking out No. 23 seed Barbora Strycova of the Czech Republic, 6-3, 7-6, in the first match of the day Friday in Louis Armstrong Stadium.
The 22-year-old Belgian, who reached the semis of the Australian Open earlier this year, moves into the fourth round of the Open for the first time in her career. She will next take on the 2017 US Open champ Sloane Stephens, who took out two-time runner-up Victorian Azarenka.
Mertens looked to be cruising in the second set, up a break and serving at 4-3. But she was broken in the eighth game, and just barely managed to avoid a third set, saving three break points while serving at 5-6. The Belgian fell behind 3-1 in the tiebreak before reeling off six of the last seven points of the match.
Mertens only hit two more winners than Strycova in the match (21 to 19), but her superior power off her ground strokes and impressive court coverage, allowed her to control points when she needed to most.
"I think she played a great game today, but I think I stepped up in the first set and was a little more aggressive," Mertens said after the match. "She comes to the net a lot, but there were not a lot of mistakes, a lot of rallies, and if it came shorter, I tried to win the point."
WHAT IT MEANS: Mertens had to come back from 4-2 down in the final set in her first-round match with Kurumi Nara, before taking the match 7-5 in the third. With her win today, she not only reaches her career-best showing here but also becomes the first Belgian player to reach the round of 16 at the Open since 2010, the year Kim Clijsters took the last of her three titles here.
This has been a breakout year for Mertens, who was ranked outside the Top 100 less than two years ago. Besides her semifinal run at this year’s Australian Open, she’s won three tournaments in 2018, taking one hard court title and two on clay. She holds the best clay court record on the tour for women this year with a 16-2 record. In every Grand Slam this year, she’s achieved the best result of her career, including Wimbledon, where she reached the third round, and the French Open, where she reached the round of 16.
MATCH POINT: Both Mertens and Strycova are known as solid doubles players, and both displayed impressive all-court games in the match. Strycova came to the net 35 times, winning 23 of those points, including a number of impressive serve-and-volley approaches at key moments. Mertens won 16 of 25 points at the net.
