31 August 2019

Johanna Konta wins comfortably to set up fourth round clash with Karolina Pliskova at the US Open

Johanna Konta moved into the fourth round of the US Open for the third time in her career with a 6-2 6-3 win over China's Zhang Shuai.

It took the British number one an hour and 15 minutes as she broke the 33rd seed twice in each set to cruise into the last 16.

In a dominant display, Konta dropped more than one point in just a single one of her service games as Shuai found little success.

The 28-year-old will now face third seed Karolina Pliskova for a place in the quarter-finals, with Konta having never previously advanced to the last eight at Flushing Meadows.

The Brit has beaten Pliskova once in her career - back in 2016 - but has lost to the Czech the other six times they have met.

Elsewhere, Ashleigh Barty eased past Maria Sakkari 7-5 6-3 to set up a match with Wang Qiang, while last year's losing finalist Serena Williams also came through with relative comfort, beating Karolina Muchova 6-3 6-2 and will now face Petra Martic.

The other big match of the fourth round will be the runner-up from the 2017 US Open Madison Keys taking on fifth seed Elina Svitolina.

Keys came through her tie with fellow American Sofia Kenin 6-3 7-5, while Svitolina defeated her own fellow country woman Dayana Yastremska 6-2 6-0.

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