By Karl Plume and Amy Tennery
NEW YORK (Reuters) -Sixth seed Jessica Pegula and 14th seed Tommy Paul boosted home hopes at the U.S. Open on Thursday, as they advanced to the third round after promising contender Sebastian Korda crashed out.
Overcast skies matched the early gloom for the U.S. cohort as five Americans exited during the dayside action, including Korda, who struggled to hold serve as he lost to Czech mixed doubles Olympic gold medalist Tomas Machac 6-4 6-2 6-4.
But Pegula survived a stiff challenge from fellow American Sofia Kenin to keep her Grand Slam hopes alive, while world number 59 Ashlyn Krueger shocked 21st seed Mirra Andreeva 6-1 6-4 to reach the third round of a Grand Slam for the first time.
Pegula plays Spain's Jessica Bouzas Maneiro next, while Krueger will meet 16th seed Liudmila Samsonova.
Pegula rallied back after dropping serve in the second game of the match to take down 2020 Australian Open champion Kenin 7-6(4) 6-3 at Louis Armstrong Stadium.
The 30-year-old also started the second set down 0-2, but rattled off five straight games to slam the door and remain a perfect 11-0 against American opponents this year.
"I felt like today I had a little bit more rhythm. I felt a little bit more calm out there," said Pegula, who has never progressed beyond the quarter-finals at a major.
"Luckily I was able to kind of get the break back both sets and then actually serve pretty well in some key moments too."
Paul will face Canadian Gabriel Diallo after his second round opponent Max Purcell of Australia retired at 7-5 6-0 1-0 at the Grandstand.
It was hardly the way that Paul wanted to advance but the early night was perhaps a welcome relief after his first-round affair against Italian Lorenzo Sonego went on well past 1:00 a.m.
"I was playing really well but it's unfortunate," said Paul, who put up scarce few unforced errors and basked in the attention of the home fans.
"I thought I picked up my serve there in the second set I started hitting my forehand really well."
Korda had a tougher day in Flushing, as he struck first with a break in the sixth game of the first set but quickly ceded the momentum and dropped serve in the next game, netting a backhand and launching a forehand long for two of his 37 unforced errors.
After dispatching 11th seed Danielle Collins in the first round, unseeded Caroline Dolehide's U.S. Open singles aspirations were ended by Italy's Sara Errani in a tight 7-5 7-5 tussle.
The mixed day for the home nation followed a strong showing on Wednesday when defending champion Coco Gauff, 12th seed Taylor Fritz and several other Americans advanced.
(Reporting by Karl Plume and Amy Tennery in New York, editing by Lincoln Feast.)
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