Jessica Pegula had to dig deeper to beat Victoria Azarenka in the third round of the U.S. Open and kept her hopes of winning the first major in her career.
In a 6-1 7-5 victory, 2024 finalist Pegula paraded in the first set and fought back bravely despite former world No. 1 Azarenka struggling with a leg injury.
Meanwhile, the surprise of Italy's seventh seed Jasmine Paolini beat the world's 60 Marketa Vondrousova 7-6 (7-4) 6-1.
Paul Lini was defeated in the finals of the French Open and Wimbledon last year, but no Grand Slam this year has surpassed the fourth round.
Pegula suffered a heartbreaking defeat by Aryna Sabalenka in last year's New York final, and he will face her fellow countryman Ann Li or Australia's 126 Priscilla Hon in the fourth round.
“I was just trying to focus on getting back to my strategy and the first set was going well,” the 31-year-old said.
“I thought I had a very good move and I wanted to do the game.
“I haven’t turned out to be too amazing over the past few months, so it’s great to be able to turn it around.”