American Jessica Pegula, the No. 6 seed, reached the second week of the US Open without dropping a set, overwhelming Spain’s Jessica Bouzas Maneiro 6-3, 6-3 in their first meeting Saturday.
“I thought I just played solid,” Pegula said in her on-court interview. “I didn’t do anything crazy … bad or amazing.”
Against Pegula, Bouzas Maneiro, who grabbed attention at Wimbledon by eliminating defending champion Marketa Vondrousova in the first round, had 29 unforced errors and only five winners.
Since the start of 2021, Pegula has won 25 matches at the hard-court Slams, trailing only Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek. She next faces No. 18 seed Diana Shnaider, who earned a straight-sets win over Italy’s Sara Errani.
Earlier Saturday, Jasmine Paolini defeated No. 30 seed Yulia Putintseva 6-3, 6-4 en route to the round of 16, becoming the first Italian woman to reach that stage of the New York major since Roberta Vinci in 2016.
The fifth-seeded Paolini, 28, joined Coco Gauff as the only women to reach at least the fourth round at every Grand Slam tournament in 2024.
Paolini had never made it past the second round in 16 appearances at majors entering this season. But she reached the fourth round at the Australian Open in January before being the…
