Round-up: Kerber and Vinci storm through, Kvitova battles into second round

Updated 01/09/2016 at 07:27 GMT

Australian Open champion Angelique Kerber and 2015 US Open runner-up Roberta Vinci both looked in good form as they made the third round.

Angelique Kerber of Germany - US Open 2016

Image credit: Reuters

Kerber blitzes Lucic-Baroni

Second seed Angelique Kerber stayed on track in her quest to unseat Serena Williams as world number one by beating Mirjana Lucic-Baroni of Croatia 6-2 7-6(7) on Wednesday to reach the third round of the U.S. Open.

Australian Open winner Kerber rifled home an ace to finish the first set against the free swinging, 34-year-old Lucic-Baroni, then won a see-saw second set in which each player was broken three times on the way to a tiebreaker.

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The Croat held two set points during the decider before losing it 9-7.

Highlights: Kerber safely through against Lucic-Baroni

The left-handed German was one match win away in Cincinnati from ending Williams' long reign as number one before losing to Czech Karolina Pliskova in the final and has another chance to leapfrog the American at Flushing Meadows.

Lucic-Baroni raised her game in the second set, but could not overcome the steady Kerber as the big-hitting Croat blasted 37 winners while gifting the German with 55 unforced errors.

Roberta Vinci takes Christina McHale apart in second round clash

Last year's US Open runner-up Roberta Vinci enjoyed a very comfortable win in her second round match against American Christina McHale.

Vinci needed just 64 minutes to earn a 6-3 6-1 victory, setting up a match against either Yulia Putintseva or Carina Witthoft.

"The first round is always the toughest one," Vinci said afterwards.

"But, yeah, step by step you can play more confident.

Highlights: Vinci takes McHale to pieces

"Now I just keep going. I'm so happy that I won two matches here, tomorrow rest, and then focus for the next round."

The Italian world number eight had been in fine form in her opening match and impressed once again against the world number 55.

McHale had her moments, particularly in the first set - with one exchange in particular among the finest points of the tournament so far:

McHale hits magical dropshot against Vinci

But ultimately she was simply outgunned by Vinci, who has looked more comfortable in three days in New York so far than she has done all season.

"It's nice of course to come back," said Vinci. "But of course you have a lot of pressure.

"Now I'm seven in the world; a lot of points to defend.

"But probably the key is don't think about this. Just play every single match. Stay positive. Just think about the opponent, about my game."

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Kvitova given stern test by Turkey's Büyükakçay

Double Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova made it into the third round at Flushing Meadows, but only after coming through a serious workout against Turykey's Cagla Büyükakçay.

Kvitova, the world number 16, was pushed on Arthur Ashe court against a player 50 places below her in the world rankings, but came through to win 7-6(2) 6-3. Ukraine's Elina Svitolina will be up next for the Czech star.

Kvitova grabs first set against Buyukakcay with crazy point

Kvitova, a quarter-finalist at Flushing Meadows last year, has often struggled with the humidity at the year's last grand slam and admitted it was anyone's guess how far she could go.

"You never know - I never know," the 26-year-old said.

"I was sick last week but am getting better every day and I feel good on the court and am feeling the ball well."

Highlights: Kvitova fights past Buyukakcay

Seeds come through in early action... but Kuznetsova goes out

Belinda Bencic (seeded 24th), Elina Svitolina (22nd) and Dominika Cibulkova (12th) all came through tricky matches on day three of the tournament.

Bencic looked the most impressive, brushing aside Germany's Andrea Petkovic for the loss of just five games.

Highlights: Bencic takes down Petkovic in second round

But Svitolina and Cibulkova both had to battle hard, the former beating home favourite Lauren Davis 6-1 4-6 6-3 and the latter coming from a set down to win 6-7(5) 6-2 6-2 against Evgeniya Rodina of Russia.

A lengthy match was the last thing 12th seed Cibulkova needed: she was playing with a heavily-strapped leg due to a hamstring niggle.

There was no such luck for Svetlana Kuznetsova, however, the ninth seed losing to former world number one Caroline Wozniacki.

[FULL REPORT: Wozniacki stuns Kuznetsova]

WOMEN'S US OPEN: R3 RESULTS

Naomi Osaka (Japan) beat Duan Yingying (China) 6-4 7-6(3)

2-Angelique Kerber (Germany) beat Mirjana Lucic-Baroni (Croatia) 6-2 7-6(7)

13-Johanna Konta (Britain) beat Tsvetana Pironkova (Bulgaria) 6-2 5-7 6-2

Carina Witthoeft (Germany) beat Yulia Putintseva (Kazakhstan) 6-1 6-7(1) 6-1

Monica Niculescu (Romania) beat Ana Bogdan (Romania) 6-0 6-1

Caroline Wozniacki (Denmark) beat 9-Svetlana Kuznetsova (Russia) 6-4 6-4

12-Dominika Cibulkova (Slovakia) beat Evgeniya Rodina (Russia) 6-7(5) 6-2 6-2

22-Elina Svitolina (Ukraine) beat Lauren Davis (U.S.) 6-1 4-6 6-3

14-Petra Kvitova (Czech Republic) beat Cagla Buyukakcay (Turkey) 7-6(2) 6-3

Lesia Tsurenko (Ukraine) beat Wang Yafan (China) 7-5 6-3

24-Belinda Bencic (Switzerland) beat Andrea Petkovic (Germany) 6-3 6-2

7-Roberta Vinci (Italy) beat Christina McHale (U.S.) 6-1 6-3

Kateryna Bondarenko (Ukraine) beat Saisai Zheng (China) 5-7 7-6 7-5

8-Madison Keys (U.S.) beat Kayla Day (U.S.) 6-1 6-1

CiCi Belis (U.S.) beat Shelby Rogers (U.S.) 2-6 6-2 6-2

Anastasija Sevastova (Latvia) beat 3-Garbine Muruguza (Spain) 7-5 6-4

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