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American Madison Keys breezed into the US Open third round with a 6-4, 6-0 win over incoming Texas freshman Maya Joint on Wednesday, while reigning Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova became the third women's top-10 seed to fall.
No. 14 seed Keys, a US Open finalist in 2017 and crowd favorite, needed just an hour to advance and next faces No. 33 Elise Mertens .
Keys, who made her major main draw debut at the 2011 US Open, has 60 wins at hard-court Slams, third most among women in that span after only Serena Williams and Victoria Azarenka .
The No. 8-seeded Krejcikova lost to qualifier Elena-Gabriela Ruse (world No. 122) 6-4, 7-5, joining No. 9 Maria Sakkari and No. 10 Jelena Ostapenko in making an early exit from Flushing Meadows.
Krejcikova won her second Grand Slam singles title this summer, but then she didn't play any matches after the Paris Olympics. She acknowledged last week not knowing where her level of play was.
Turns out, it wasn't good enough.
Ruse got much more work on the US Open's hard courts while playing her way into the main draw through the qualifying tournament and was better than Krejcikova on the points that mattered most, fighting back from a 5-3 deficit in the second set to win the final four games.
"Barbora, she's such a good player, she's won so many matches in the last two years, and it's just a dream for me," said Ruse, a 26-year-old from Romania.
She advanced to the third round of a Grand Slam for the first time and will play No. 26 seed Paula Badosa , who eliminated American Taylor Townsend 6-3, 7-5.
Badosa continued her resurgence in a strong summer by reaching the third round of the US Open for the first time.
"I know it's just a third round, but I was really looking forward to doing this in New York," said Badosa, a Spaniard who was born in New York.
Mertens knocked out Australia's Ajla Tomljanovic 6-3, 6-2. Mertens has reached the third round or better in 23 of her 27 major appearances since the start of 2018, the most third-round appearances at majors of any woman in that span.
Defending champion Coco Gauff was on the schedule Wednesday night.
With temperatures expected to climb into the 90s, the extreme weather policy was in effect Wednesday at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, meaning players are allowed a 10-minute break before the second and third sets. If both players decline a 10-minute break, play shall be continuous.
ESPN Stats & Information, The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
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