New York, Sep 1 (IANS) Defending champion Aryna Sabalenka dominated Cristina Bucsa 6-1, 6-4 to reach the US Open quarterfinals for the fifth consecutive year.

The win marks the fifth consecutive year that Sabalenka has made it to at least the quarterfinal round in Flushing Meadows, with her previous four trips resulting in semifinal appearances or better.

The 73-minute win also assures that Sabalenka will officially stay No. 1 in the world rankings after the tournament, regardless of any other results.

Sabalenka has now reached the quarterfinals in each of the last 12 majors that she has contested, solidifying her position as a top contender.

A matchup of Grand Slam champions awaits Sabalenka in the quarterfinals as she’ll take on a former Wimbledon winner champion Marketa Vondrousova, who prevailed in a battle of former Wimbledon champions, defeating No. 9 seed Elena Rybakina 6-4, 5-7, 6-2 in 1 hour and 51 minutes to advance to the US Open quarterfinals for the second time in her career.

Against Vondrousova, Sabalenka leads the head-to-head 5-3, including a second-round win, also taking place in Cincinnati a few weeks ago.

A win against either opponent would send Sabalenka to a fifth straight US Open semifinal.

Earlier, Jessica Pegula advanced to the quarterfinals with a dominant 6-1, 6-2 win over Ann Li in an all-American matchup.

Pegula needed only 54 minutes to move past the 25-year-old Li, who was playing in her first fourth-round match at a major championship and fell to 1-9 against Top 10 competition.

Pegula’s dominant win over Ann Li in the fourth round was her 19th match win at Flushing Meadows, now her highest tally at any of the four majors.

“I played (Li) at Roland Garros early this year, and we had a really tough two sets. And I know when she’s serving really well, and she has a lot of confidence, she’s really dangerous,” Pegula said.

“I felt like maybe she came out a little slow or nervous or whatever it was, and I just felt like I wanted to jump on top of that and not let her feel comfortable on this court for a second. And I felt like that was really my entire motivation the entire match,” she said.

Pegula improves to 8-2 in Grand Slam fourth-round matches, including 3-1 at that stage at her home major championship.

–IANS

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