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Aryna Sabalenka reached the US Open third round in just 53 minutes, overpowering Polina Iatcenko 6-1, 6-1. The top seed arrived in New York after early exits at her previous three tournaments, but looked closer to the form she needs for a possible third consecutive title.

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Happy with the level I played today, happy with the focus and happy to be through this match.

Sabalenka won 15 of 16 points on her first serve in the opening set and finished the match with 21 points won from 28 first serves. “I think I struggled a little bit in the middle of the season. Once again, I’m not going to defend myself or explain why, what happened, but I’m happy with my level,” she said. “I can definitely say that mentally I’m way stronger than I was in the middle of the season, and physically I also feel stronger. So I feel like I’m on my level of play.”

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I think I struggled a little bit in the middle of the season. Once again, I’m not going to defend myself or explain why, what happened, but I’m happy with my level. I can definitely say that mentally I’m way stronger than I was in the middle of the season, and physically I also feel stronger. So I feel like I’m on my level of play.

Carlos Alcaraz recovered from losing the first set to Jaime Faria and won 4-6, 6-0, 6-3, 6-2. Jessica Pegula beat Sofia Kenin 6-3, 6-1 in 56 minutes, while Ben Shelton defeated Hubert Hurkacz and Daniil Medvedev beat Sebastian Gorzny. Rain temporarily suspended play on outside courts, while matches continued under the roofs at Arthur Ashe Stadium and Louis Armstrong Stadium.

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To be out of there in under an hour, it doesn’t always happen. So I think I’m just going to take that one and run, I guess, until the next round.