12:03 pm | August 29, 2019 | Go to Source | Author:
NEW YORK — With Colin Kaepernick and Kobe Bryant looking on from her courtside box, defending champion Naomi Osaka stormed to a 6-2, 6-4 victory over Magda Linette to advance to the US Open third round.
Osaka, who needed three sets to beat first-round opponent Anna Blinkova, said afterward she was just happy she didn’t have to go the distance again. And she said she was relieved that her celebrity admirers didn’t have to endure a long afternoon in the hot sun.
Osaka’s victory sets up the possibility of an intriguing next match. If Coco Gauff is able to beat Timea Babos later, the 15-year-old American rising star would get her first shot against the No. 1 Osaka.
Despite wearing a brace on what has been a problematic left knee, Osaka looked strong from the baseline and was never in serious trouble on the shade-shrouded Louis Armstrong Stadium court. She put away an easy volley on match point to seal the victory over the No. 53-ranked Linette, who beat Osaka on tour last year and won the tuneup tournament in the Bronx just before Flushing Meadows.
Andrea Petkovic started the day with an upset, beating No. 6 seed Petra Kvitova 6-4, 6-4.
Kvitova, a two-time Wimbledon champion, could never get into a rhythm from the baseline or the net and piled up 32 unforced errors. The last came on match point, when Kvitova shanked an overhead off her racket frame wide.
For Petkovic, a German ranked No. 88, it was only the second time she has scored back-to-back main-draw victories this year.
In other early results, 15th-seeded David Goffin beat Gregoire Barrere 6-2, 6-2, 6-2 in less than an hour and a half, and No. 20 Sofia Kenin downed Laura Siegemund 7-6 (4), 6-0.
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