NEW YORK (Reuters) – Eighth seed Petra Martic sailed into the third round of the U.S. Open with a 6-3 6-4 win over Ukraine’s Kateryna Bondarenko on Wednesday.
Unforced errors from Martic allowed her 349th-ranked opponent to stay in the match but the Croatian compensated for some sloppy play by hammering down eight aces.
Martic had Bondarenko under almost constant pressure, creating 16 break chances but converting just four.
One of those breaks came in the final game as Martic took advantage of her third match point to send the 34-year-old Bondarenko to the exit.
With the top 24 seeded women all safely through the first round, Martic led the way into the third, leaving her one victory away from matching her best U.S. Open result from a year ago when reached the round of 16.
(Reporting by Steve Keating in Toronto, Editing by Ed Osmond)
