Images from the US Open women's singles second round matches, at Flushing Meadows, New York, on Wednesday.
Aryna Sabalenka faced little resistance from Lucia Bronzetti as the hard-hitting Belarusian eased past the Italian 6-3, 6-1 on Wednesday to claim her spot in the US Open third round.
Sabalenka, who is one of the favourites to win the tournament, put her punishing serve to good use, pounding five aces to just one double fault while never facing a break-point.
The second-seeded Sabalenka needed a few games to settle in against the world number 76 but took control of the match when she outlasted Bronzetti in a rally to break for a 4-2 lead in the first set.
Sabalenka broke again to open the one-sided second set and cruised to the finish on a hot day at Louis Armstrong stadium.
Sabalenka, who reached the final of the tournament last year, rolled to the Cincinnati Open title earlier this month without losing a set and has yet to drop one in her two matches at Flushing Meadows so far this year.
Zheng survives Andreeva scare
Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen survived an early scare to overcome Russia's Erika Andreeva 6-7(3), 6-1, 6-2 in sweltering conditions on Wednesday to move into the third round of the US Open.
Andreeva, the elder sister of teenage sensation Mirra, had already knocked out one Chinese player in Yuan Yue and was looking to reach the third round at Flushing Meadows for the first time in her career.
Despite Andreeva taking an early lead and then clinching the tie-break, Zheng clawed her way back into the contest on the back of a solid first serve as the seventh seed finished the match with 36 winners and 20 aces.
"I started the match quite slow. Little by little I started to feel better in the reaction, in my serve," said Zheng, who was runner-up at the Australian Open this year.
"Honestly, today, I know (how) I entered the match wasn't the way I wanted but I'm glad I still fought until the end. I didn't give up, because she got a lot of chances in the second set."
Zheng started poorly, losing the first two games of the opening set and although she fought back with a break of her own, she was always playing catch-up as Andreeva surged ahead.
At 6-5 down, the Chinese number one served well to force a tie-break but a third double fault in the set gave Andreeva the upper hand and the 20-year-old Russian did not look back, sealing the set when Zheng's backhand went wide.
Zheng rediscovered her rhythm in the second set and won five games in a row from 1-1 on the strength of a superb first serve to force a decider, while Andreeva made several errors.
Andreeva's struggles continued into the third set where one of her powerful returns went so wide it was caught by a spectator behind the chair umpire while Zheng began dealing in winners and aces.
By 5-2, Andreeva had thrown in the towel and Zheng wrapped up the match with two aces to move into the third round where she will play Germany's Jule Niemeier.
Keys demolishes Maya Joint
Former finalist Madison Keys flew the American flag during the day session at Arthur Ashe Stadium, the the 14th seed trouncing Australia's Maya Joint 6-4, 6-0.
Making her 13th main-draw appearance at the US Open, Keys struck first against Joint when she converted on her third break-point opportunity for a 4-3 lead en route to wrapping up the opening set on her serve.
The 29-year-old American opened the second with another break and sprinted to the finish line in 62 minutes.
"After the first set I feel like I made a few adjustments on my returns just to put a little bit more pressure on her," said Keys, who retired from her two previous tournaments at Wimbledon and Toronto.
"And I felt like once I was able to get a little bit out ahead I really just ran with the moment and was able to close it out really well."
Up next for Keys, who lost to fellow American Sloane Stephens in the 2017 US Open final, is a clash with 33rd-seeded Belgian Elise Mertens.
