Sloane Stephens Edges Azarenka To Secure US Open Fourth Round Spot

Third seed Sloane Stephens continued the quest to defend her title by beating Victoria Azarenka of Belarus to secure a fourth round spot.

The 25-year-old beat the two-time Grand Slam champion 6-3 6-4 in their third round clash at Flushing Meadows.

The French Open finalist will face 15th seed Elise Mertens of Belgium for a place in the quarterfinals.

She is the highest-ranked player left in the women’s singles in New York following the first round exit of Romanian Simona Halep and the second round exit of Danish player Caroline Wozniacki.

On her win, Stephens said: “I just hung in there and battled as hard as I could to keep fighting. I was playing a former Grand Slam champion.”

She raised her level so I just had to stay in it.

“It felt like a night match with the lights on. I have never played under this roof before but it is super cool. It was unlucky for her but I was thankful for the break.” Sloane Stephens concluded.