American Alison Riske is through to the second week of a Grand Slam for the first time in her career after a straight-sets victory over seventh-seed Petra Kvitova on Saturday.
Kvitova was suffering from a fever and virus, according to her manager, and it was clear during the match that the 2011 Wimbledon champ was nowhere near her best. Riske looked spectacular regardless, taking down Kvitova 6-3, 6-0. By the end of the second set, there was no fight left in the talented Czech.
Riske is just another American woman playing out of her mind in Flushing Meadows. No. 15 Sloane Stephens has crushed the competition and will play No. 1 Serena Williams in the fourth round. Stephens beat Jamie Hampton in the third round. Seventeen-year-old Victoria Duval bounced 2011 U.S. Open champ Samantha Stosur before falling to Daniela Hantuchova last round. Riske will play either Hantuchova qualifier Julia Glushko of Israel in the fourth round.
Christina McHale, a 21-year-old, unseeded American from nearby Teaneck, N.J., lost a heartbreaker to 13th-seeded Ana Ivanovic on Saturday afternoon, 4-6, 7-5, 6-4. McHale took the first set against Ivanovic and broke the former world No. 1 to serve for the match in the second, but Ivanovic broke back and closed out the set with three straight games to win, 7-5. The first break of the third set came with Ivanovic up 5-4, and a McHale forehand went long to give Ivanovic the match.
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