US Open Women’s Third Round Preview

Caro Wozniacki is back in the third round of slams. Her win against Kvitova was a hugely popular one. Her potential run to the semis is as popcorn worthy as it gets – Brady in round 3, potentially Gauff in round 4 and then Swiatek or Ostapenko in the quarters.

Let’s focus on Brady in the third. The American and 2021 Australian Open finalist is on a comeback of her own. She’ll also have the crowd. Predicting this one is especially hard but I am going to go with Wozniacki. She must be feeling great after turning back the clock versus old rival Kvitova, and at the slam where she’s had the most overall success.

Coco Gauff has been very impressive and handling the hype with smiles and grace. Her match versus Mertens is going to be one to watch. Mertens is as solid as it gets and is in decent form after a tough second round win versus Collins.

The ‘Big 3’ are still on course to line up the semis. Swiatek has been cruising. Sabalenka has been uncharacteristically drama free. Rybakina is moving on with little fuss but partly because her second round opponent was an unfortuanate no-show (Get well soon Tomljanovic).

Will the march to the semis continue so smoothly? Swiatek faces Juvan. No alarms bells ring there. Sabalenka is up against Burel. Again, no upset senses tingling.

Rybakina, though, has Cirstea. What Rybakina does not need right now is a wily, hardened vet in the third round of a slam. Especially as she didn’t get any match practice in round 2. Now, Rybakina should beat Cirstea if she’s in any kind of decent form, but Cirstea can bring it in big matches and Rybakina has had a rough few months. I expect Rybakina to win but my eyebrows won’t raise if Cirstea upsets her.

Jabeur is still going and I thought she might be out early. It has been dicey, though. 23rd seed Bouzkova in round 3 will really tell us how Jabeur is healing from her Wimbledon final disaster.

Other players of interest in round 3:

1. Vondrousova is going under the radar and performing very well. She’s got Alexandrova in round 3. The Russian belts the ball and plays a clean game. A nice clash of styles here and maybe the most interesting of the round 3 matches. Either could win but if Vondrousova does then she’s handling winning Wimbledon incredibly well and it bodes badly for her competition.
2. Keys. Oh, Keys. I have squandered what reputation I had predicting her slam trophy wins. Nevertheless, here she is, murdering her competition. Samsonova is going to be a huge test for her. Keys explosion or implosion, it’s impossible to predict. Which is why I’ll be watching.
3. Svitolina is riding the wave of good form and crowd love that she started at Wimbledon not so long ago. A great match versus Pavlyuchenkova propelled her into a third round versus 3rd seeded Pegula. The crowd will be up for this. As will I. Pegula has put together the steadier and higher flying career in a shorter time, ranked No.3, but Svitolina has the bigger game and depth of career. This could go many ways. Pegula may be too consistent and unflustered and beat Svitolina in straights. Or the Ukrainian may get inspired and produce the higher level. Either way, it’ll be on AA and the crowd will have plenty to say.