(Photo credit: Robert Deutsch-Imagn Images)

Last year's U.S. Open women's singles finalists advanced to the third round of this year's event with straight-set wins on Wednesday in New York.

Top-seeded Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus, the reigning champion, topped Russia's Polina Kudermetova 7-6 (4), 6-2, and fourth-seeded Jessica Pegula of the United States rolled to a 6-1, 6-3 victory over Russia's Anna Blinkova.

Sabalenka improved her 2025 record in tiebreakers to 19-1 by taking the first-set tiebreaker vs. Kudermetova. The 19 tiebreaker wins in a year represent an Open Era record, after the old mark of 16 was shared by three players.

Asked to explain her tiebreaker success, Sabalenka said, 'Honestly, I don't know. I'm just trying to stay aggressive. I'm trying to fight for every point. I know that every point can be a key moment of the set so I'm just trying to stay strong.'

Next up for Sabalenka is a matchup against 31st-seeded Leylah Fernandez, who rallied past France's Elsa Jacquemot 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 on Wednesday. The Canadian upset Sabalenka in the semifinals of the 2021 U.S. Open.

Pegula worked a tick over an hour to get past Blinkova.

Pegula had 30 winners and no double-faults and is set for a match against three-time runner-up and two-time Grand Slam champion Victoria Azarenka of Belarus on Friday.

Pegula has dropped only eight total games in her two matches. She has now posted wins in the first two rounds for the sixth consecutive U.S. Open.

Azarenka and Pegula each have three wins in their six career matches.

Pegula saved four match points in a third-set tiebreaker to defeat Azarenka at the Charleston Open in 2024. Azarenka claimed their 2023 match in the Australian Open quarterfinals.

A former World No. 1, the 36-year-old Azarenka fell behind Russia's Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova before taking advantage of 25 unforced errors for a 6-3, 6-3 victory.

'She started really strong, I had to find my feet and get my intensity up and start making more first balls and dictating more,' Azarenka said. 'But after a few games, I started to find my form a little bit.'

Emma Raducanu, the U.S. Open champion as a qualifier four years ago, rode a dominant first serve to an easy win. She needed precisely 60 minutes for a 6-2, 6-1 victory over Indonesian qualifier Janice Tjen. Raducanu, the British No. 1 player, has only dropped six games through two matches in the 2025 U.S. Open.

'I'm very pleased with how I played today in the second round. After two days it kind of breaks the rhythm a little bit,' Raducanu said.

No. 10 seed Emma Navarro won a matchup of Americans, defeating Caty McNally 6-2, 6-1. She'll face the Czech Republic's Barbara Krejcikova, who began her tournament with an upset of No. 22 seed Victoria Mboko of Canada, in the third round.

As the lights illuminated on the courts in Flushing, four seeded players were upset, while five moved onto the third round.

The highest seed to go down was No. 17 Liudmila Samsonova of Russia, who dropped a three-set decision to Australia's Priscilla Hon. Hon, ranked No. 126, rallied to win 4-6, 6-3, 6-2. She reeled off 18 aces and won 82 percent of her first-serve points.

Ann Li defeated No. 16 Belinda Bencic, of Switzerland, by a convincing 6-3, 6-3 margin, while doubles specialist Taylor Townsend eliminated No. 25 Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia, 7-5, 6-1.

In a minor upset, 2023 Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova of the Czech Republic defeated No. 32 McCartney Kessler, 7-6 (7), 6-2.

Other seeded players to move onto the third round were No. 5 Russian Mirra Andreeva, Italy's No. 7 Jasmine Paolini, No. 9 Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan and Belgium's No. 19 Elise Mertens.

In a match of unseeded players, Cristina Busca of Spain knocked off Philippine sensation Alexandra Eala, 6-4, 6-3.

--Field Level Media