New York | Sabalenka wins at 2am, Mertens next

World No 2 Aryna Sabalenka won the latest-starting match in US Open history when she came from a set down to outpace Ekaterina Alexandrova, the 29th seed, on Friday night on Arthur Ashe Stadium, and made it into the Last 16 in the early hours of Saturday morning.

Thanks so much for staying that late… Aryna Sabalenka

The night session began more than an hour after its usual 7pm starting time, following Frances Tiafoe’s victory over Ben Shelton in the afternoon that lasted 4 hours and 3 minutes, and after defending champion Novak Djokovic was shocked by No 28 seed Alexei Popyrin in 4 sets.

Sabalenka and Alexandrova finally got on the court at 12.08am, and played for an hour and 40 minutes before the Belarusian dispatched the Russian, 2-6 6-1 6-2.

The previous latest start to a match was exactly at midnight on 2 September, 1987, when Gabriela Sabatini went on to beat Beverly Bowes, 6-3 6-3  in 90 minutes.

Sabalenka, last year’s runner-up, overcame a shaky start that saw her produce a string of unforced errors, and she dropped the opener in 33 minutes.

“I don’t know what I did, I was just trying to stay low, put as many balls as I can back on that side. She played incredible tennis in the first set. It was really tough to change it,” Sabalenka said later. “I’m really happy I was able to turn around this match and get this really difficult win.”

The 26-year-old quickly found her groove, though, and broke for a 3-1 lead in the second, and never looked back after that, levelling the contest with a breath-taking display of power to overwhelm her spirited Russian opponent.

Sabalenka was surprisingly broken after going up 5-0 in the decider, but she promptly delivered the knockout blow to a fading Alexandrova with a backhand winner to delight the crowd that had stuck around.

“Thanks so much for staying that late,” Sabalenka said as the clock neared 2am.

The match is tied for the second-latest finish for a women’s singles match at the US Open, with the 2016 1st-round match between Madison Keys and Alison Riske, won by Keys, 4-6 7-6(5) 6-2, that also finished at 1.48am.

The record was set in 2021 by Maria Sakkari and Bianca Andreescu, with the Greek winning 6-7(2) 7-6(6) 6-3 at 2.13am.

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Sabalenka arrived at the US Open full of confidence and in good form after her dominant run to the Cincinnati Open title, while she was riding a 14-set winning streak, until Alexandrova ended that run in the opener.

Having successfully defended her title at the Australian Open, Sabalenka is trying to become the first woman since Angelique Kerber in 2016 to sweep both hard-court majors in a single season.

29-year old Alexandrova came into the match with an even 3-3 head-to-head record against Sabalenka, and her big serve and flat baseline game has proven problematic for the game’s best, highlighted by wins over World No 1 Iga Swiatek and No 5 Jessica Pegula en route to the Miami Open semi-finals in the spring.

Alexandrova eased through the 33-minute opening set with clutch serving and disciplined work on the baseline.

Both finished the set with 10 winners, but the Russian kept a cleaner sheet, hitting 7 unforced errors compared to Sabalenka’s 14.

After a bathroom break to reset herself, Sabalenka dialled back her game and minimised her errors, and her patience paid off as Alexandrova’s form dipped, the Russian’s first serve points falling from winning 76% in the first set to under 40% in the second, while the Belarusian made just 3 unforced errors in levelling the match.

After just 68 minutes, it went into a one-set shootout, and Sabalenka continued her clean play, breaking Alexandrova immediately and consolidating for 2-0 as she raced away to close out her 8th consecutive win.

Significantly, after misfiring on 14 unforced errors in the first set, Sabalenka made 12 for the remainder of the match.

Elise Mertens upset former US Open finalist Madison Keys in 3 sets on Friday night at Flushing Meadows, and will play Aryna Sabalenka next

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Sabalenka will face Elise Mertens, who is seeking her first major quarter-final, after the 33rd-seeded Belgian returned to the round of 16 with a gritty effort to hold off 14th seed Madison Keys, 6-7(5) 7-5 6-4, in the early night match on Louis Armstrong Stadium.

It will be the 10th career meeting between the two on Sunday, Sabalenka having dominated their head-to-head to win 7 of their 9 matches, including their last 6.

It is also their first meeting since the 2023 Australian Open, which Sabalenka won, 6-2 6-3, during the run to her first Grand Slam title.

Mertens withstood the power of hard-hitting Keys to score a hard-fought win that went the distance after 2 hours and 54 minutes, overcoming 39 winners from the American, who committed 69 unforced errors in the 3-set, 3rd-round match.

Throughout the contest, Mertens was able to change the pace of her strokes, mixing up her shots and placing the ball well enough to keep Keys off-balance.

The opening set saw a total of 6 service breaks, as Mertens used slice to neutralise Keys’ powerful groundstrokes, and, from 4-4, they each held serve to eventually force a deciding tiebreak.

Keys began the breaker with a perfectly executed down-the-line backhand return winner, and proceeded to win 4 of the next 6 points to take a 5-2 lead.

Mertens rallied to close the deficit, but, as she served to stay in the tiebreak, trailing 5-6, she coughed up her 7th double-fault, and Keys won the first set in 68 minutes.

The second was a reversal of the first, as Keys and Mertens raised the level of their games and held serve through the first 10 games.

Mertens, though, scored the critical break in the 11th game to take a 6-5 lead when Keys sent a down-the-line forehand wide on break point, and the Belgian served out the set in the next game, after the American fired a cross-court service return long.

Mertens broke Keys to love in the 7th game of the decider, and then held her serve for a 5-3 lead, but the American held in the 9th game to narrow the gap to 5-4.

The Belgian, though, calmly held serve, and closed out the match when Keys’ down-the-line backhand went long on match point.

“We both had a great match. Credit to Madison, she’s a great player,” Mertens said after her victory. “I just kept fighting. I had those set points in the first set. I wanted to be on the court as long as possible to get the win. I’m very happy I can stay another day in New York.”

Mertens credited the night-session crowd for helping her get through the tough three-set match.

“It was an amazing atmosphere,” she said. “There is no crowd anywhere else like this. It’s one of my favourite tournaments and Grand Slams. It’s just such a nice place to be. I just love New York.”

The 28-year-old, who is playing in her 9th US Open, improves her career US Open record to 19-8, and the 2-time US Open quarter-finalist now advances to meet Sabalenka on Sunday for a spot in the quarter-finals.

Madison Keys (R) took the first set on a breaker but could not hold off Elise Mertens, who advances to the Last 16 in New York

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