Twenty-four minutes for the first set
Polina Iatcenko had never hit a ball in an Arthur Ashe night session. She got 54 minutes of one.
Aryna Sabalenka swept the Russian qualifier aside 6-1, 6-1 in the US Open second round on Wednesday night, and the score barely captures how one-sided it was. The opening set lasted 24 minutes. Iatcenko held serve once in it. Sabalenka broke early in the second and never handed the advantage back.
The defending champion has spent less time on court through two rounds than several players in this draw have needed for a single match.
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Sixteen straight wins in Flushing Meadows
This was Sabalenka’s 16th consecutive victory at the US Open. Two titles and two rounds, no defeat in between. She is chasing a third in a row, a run no woman has completed in New York since Serena Williams took her third straight in 2014.
Her opener against Camila Osorio was messier. She came through 6-2, 6-4 but leaked errors and never settled into a rhythm. None of that hesitation carried over. She served cleanly, took the ball early on return and cut rallies short before Iatcenko could work out where to stand. The qualifier finished the match without earning a single break point.
The night session suits her
“I’m super happy to play in front of you, the night sessions here are the best,” Sabalenka said on court afterwards.
The preference is not just sentiment. Much of her New York record has been built under the lights, where the ball sits up and her flat, heavy hitting travels through the court. A 54-minute win also banks something more useful than momentum, which is rest before a second week that gets a good deal harder.
Seeds have been falling steadily around her. Belinda Bencic, the 16th seed, went out to Ann Li in straight sets, and the men’s half lost Casper Ruud and Holger Rune on the same rotation of matches. Sabalenka has not been asked a serious question yet. Round three is where that usually starts.
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