Despite failing to serve out the match at 5-3 in the second set\u2014her first lost service game of the tournament\u2014Rybakina recovered to clinch victory with her fourth break in Louis Armstrong Stadium.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Rybakina, whose best US Open result was a fourth-round run last season, will next face Ukraine\u2019s Yuliia Starodubtseva in a rematch of their second-round thriller at the French Open, which Starodubtseva won.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
The 27-year-old, who won her second Grand Slam title at the Australian Open in January, is now three wins away from claiming the No. 1 ranking. She needs to reach the semifinals in New York to guarantee herself the top spot at the end of the tournament.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Earlier, the 2023 US Open champion booked her fifth consecutive third round in New York with a 6-4, 7-6 (5) win over the Spaniard, who had won their last two meetings in the WTA.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Gauff finished the two-hour affair with 21 winners and 21 unforced errors. She was broken only once in her 6-3, 6-4 first-round victory over Zeynep Sonmez and just twice against Badosa, and while she served a middling 50 percent for the match, she won 71 percent of her first-serve points and an impressive 57 percent of her second-serve offerings.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Earlier, the 2023 US Open champion booked her fifth consecutive third round in New York with a 6-4, 7-6 (5) win over the Spaniard, who had won their last two meetings in the WTA.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
In the third round, Gauff will face another Spaniard Cristina Bucsa, who prevailed 7-6 (6), 6-7 (0), 7-6 (10-6) en route to her fourth career third round at a Grand Slam, following the 2023 Australian Open, 2025 Roland Garros and 2025 US Open.<\/p>\r\n\r\n