Sabalenka Sweeps Past Townsend into the US Open Quarter-Finals as Dodig Claims the Como Title
Aryna Sabalenka needed just two sets to end Taylor Townsend's run at Flushing Meadows, while Matej Dodig outlasted Juan Pablo Varillas to lift the trophy in Como on a day dominated by qualifying business across four continents' worth of Challenger clay.
Matej Dodig67
Juan Pablo Varillas36- 10
- Aces
- 4
- 0
- Double faults
- 0
- 71%
- 1st serve in
- 67%
Aryna Sabalenka provided the headline act of the day, dismissing Taylor Townsend 6-4 6-3 in the fourth round of the US Open. The scoreline reads comfortably, and in truth it was: Townsend's forward-moving, serve-and-volley template has been one of the more distinctive stories of the fortnight in New York, but it requires margin for error that Sabalenka simply did not concede. One break in each set was enough, and the world number one moved through in straight sets without ever appearing to need a second gear.
It was the only completed match at Flushing Meadows on the docket here, and it leaves Sabalenka as the benchmark in a bottom half of the draw that still has plenty of work to do. For Townsend, the defeat closes a run that will nonetheless stand as one of the most enjoyable of her hard-court season.
The day's only other trophy went to Matej Dodig, who beat Juan Pablo Varillas 6-3 7-6 in the final of the Challenger in Como. Varillas, the more decorated clay-courter of the two, was outplayed in the opening set and then dragged the second to a tie-break without ever quite finding the break he needed. Dodig held his nerve in the shootout to seal a title that arrives on a surface where margins are traditionally unforgiving.
Elsewhere, the calendar was given over almost entirely to qualifying semi-finals, and the most eye-catching performance came in Montreux, where Martina Trevisan needed only 13 games to see off Julia Stusek 6-1 6-0. The former Roland-Garros semi-finalist looks entirely at home on the Swiss clay. She was joined in the final qualifying round by Deborah Chiesa, a 6-3 6-3 winner over Diana Martynov, by Madison Sieg, who recovered from a set down to beat Noelia Manta 3-6 6-4 6-3, and by Elsa Bonelli, who advanced when Yelyzaveta Kotliar retired at 5-2. In Antalya, Miriana Tona brushed aside Denislava Glushkova 6-3 6-1.
Seville produced the deepest qualifying field of the day, with seven matches decided. Pedro Vives Marcos beat Imanol Lopez Morillo 6-3 7-5, Jonas Forejtek dropped only one game in the first set against Alberto Barroso Campos before closing out 6-1 7-5, and Carlos Sanchez Jover and Gerard Campana Lee were similarly economical against Sergi Fita Juan and Lorenzo Carboni respectively. The tightest contest belonged to Tiago Pereira, who edged Thiago Cigarran 6-3 2-6 7-6, while Pavel Lagutin and Sebastian Rodriguez also came through.
Tulln offered its own share of resistance. Lukas Pokorny survived Lucio Ratti 6-1 5-7 6-4, and Svyatoslav Gulin needed every point of a 7-5 7-6 win over Rudolf Molleker. Andrew Paulson, Andrej Martin, Henry Bernet and Diego Dedura Palomero all advanced in straight sets. In Genova, Mika Petkovic, Valerio Aboian and Federico Arnaboldi came through, Aboian requiring three sets against Luca Castagnola. On the hard courts of Cassis, Hugo Car beat Guillaume Dalmasso 7-6 6-4 and Benjamin Pietri saw off Peter Makk.
