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US Open WTA Day 3: Stephens, Radwanska Fall, Venus Advances

Aug 27th 2014

It was another hot New York day as second-round action began in the women’s draw with a few notable surprises.

Sloane Stephens

Stephens Eliminated

First up on Arthur Ashe Stadium was American Sloane Stephens, who faced Johanna Larsson of Sweden. It has been a disappointing year for Stephens, which has included coaching changes and a drop in the rankings. On Tuesday, her struggles continued as she fell 5-7 6-4 6-2.

Stephens faced early adversity against the Swede, who found the first set sitting on her racket at 5-4. However, she stepped up to the challenge, breaking Larsson and carrying that momentum to win the first set at 7-5.

In the second, the tide continued in Stephens' favor as she jumped out to a 3-0 lead. However, as has been witnessed before, the American suffered from a loss of focus and uneven play and Larsson took full advantage. She ran out the second set at 6-4.

Larsson refused to hold back in the third set, playing aggressively and not allowing Stephens to regain her footing. She rolled to a decisive third set as 63 unforced errors would be too much for Stephens to overcome.

Fourth Seed Radwanska Upset

A quick start by fourth-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska quickly turned in favor of Shuai Peng in the first set at Louis Armstrong Stadium. The Pole jumped out to a 2-0 lead, but a feisty Peng rallied and only yielded one additional game before taking the first set 6-3. Radwanska, who is known for her smart, savvy play, ran into an opponent who excels at crafting points as well.

Showing some signs of frustration, Radwanska was unable to solve Peng early in the second set, and she fell behind by a break early. The Chinese underdog intelligently counterpunched, mixing together a variety of shots and picking her spots for precise, aggressive winners. Sensing that Radwanska was reeling, Peng vigorously pinned the fourth seed on her heels. However, she refused to lose without a fight and overcame a match point on her serve. But, although she battled to break Peng as she served for the match, the end result was a 6-3 6-4 upset.

Elsewhere in Action among the Top 10 Seeds

Aside from Radwanska, the remaining top-10 women in action avoided the Pole's fate with wins on Wednesday.

Second-seeded SImona Halep shook off jitters that crept in during the first round and defeated the dangerous Jana Cepelova, 6-2 6-1. Cepelova, a finalist in Charleston who has wins against Serena Williams and Samantha Stosur this season, had no answer for the Romanian. Halep advanced in just 56 minutes.

Maria Sharapova

Elsewhere, fifth-seeded Maria Sharapova overcame Alexandra Dulgheru and a slow start to win, 4-6 6-3 6-2. In a match that took nearly three hours to complete, Sharapova offset 46 unforced errors and nine double faults by firing 34 winners.

Sixth seed Angelique Kerber beat the heat and Alla Kudryavtseva with a 6-2 6-4 victory early in the day session. Meanwhile, ninth-seeded Jelena Jankovic outlasted Tsvetana Pironkova in two tough sets.

Tenth-seeded Caroline Wozniacki advanced to the third round after defeating Aliaksandra Sasnovich in straight sets. She will meet Andrea Petkovic in what should be a highly contested third-round match. Petkovic was involved in one of the more competitive matches of the day, defeating Monica Puig in a third-set tiebreak.

Venus Advances

Venus Williams took to Arthur Ashe Stadium under the lights against Timea Bacsinszky of Switzerland and came away with an impressive 6-1 6-4 victory. The American quickly took a stranglehold on the first set, dictating play throughout. She won the opening set in just 31 minutes.

Williams used her power to keep Bacsinszky off balance, continuing into the second set. However, her Swiss opponent showed fight in that set, and the pair engaged in a number of competitive and entertaining points. But it was Williams who found the one break of service that she would need in the second set and served out the match. She moves on to the third round, where she will face Sara Errani. Williams has never lost to Errani in three matches played between them.