New York, Sep 2 (IANS) No. 3 seed Jessica Pegula put on a superb, dominant performance to overcome American Sofia Kenin to reach the women's singles third round at the US Open, reaching this stage for a seventh year in a row in New York on Wednesday.

This was the seventh head-to-head clash in the rivalry between the two players, and Pegula was in imperious form as she won 6-3, 6-1 in just 56 minutes.

Pegula, who will become World No. 1 for the first time if she claims her maiden Grand Slam title and if Elena Rybakina loses before the semifinals, improved to 47-12 overall this season and 5-2 against Kenin, who had reached the second round by beating veteran Venus Williams.

It was the most straightforward of their contests after their first four meetings, played between 2016 and 2021, all went to three sets. Since then, Pegula has enjoyed a trio of straight-sets wins, but this was the first time she conceded fewer than eight games.

"Every match we've played throughout the years has been very tough," Pegula said in her on-court interview. "Sonya's given me a lot of trouble in the past; she's a great player and a champion. I was just trying to stay focused on what I needed to do, and luckily was able to be pretty efficient out there today," she was quoted as saying by the WTA Tour.

Pegula, the 2024 runner-up, will next face the 2021 runner-up, No. 31 seed Leylah Fernandez, who had not won a Grand Slam match in 2026 before this week. The Canadian defeated Mananchaya Sawangkaew

6-4, 6-1 to book her place in the US Open third round for a third time.

Pegula leads their head-to-head 3-1, with all meetings coming on North American outdoor hard courts. The most recent was in this year's Miami third round, which Pegula won 6-2, 6-2.

In her match against Kenin, Pegula served notice of how strong she has been with her serve in her first-round win over Elena-Gabriela Ruse, in which she conceded only seven points on serve.

The 32-year-old repeated that feat against Kenin. Once again, she dropped seven points behind her delivery, and this time, she didn't even face a break point. Her five aces took her tournament total so far to nine.

Pegula's serve may have been responsible for the eyebrow-raising numbers, but her return game was in fine form as well. While Kenin gifted the opening break to her on a double fault, Pegula's grit saw her convert a fourth break point to move up 2-0 in the second set, and she found her best backhand returns of the day to seize the double break for 4-0.

--IANS

bsk/