Petra Martic beats Paula Badosa as upsets continue at U.S. Open

Petra Martic recorded 10 aces and dominated the final two sets while notching a 6-7 (5), 6-1, 6-2 upset of fourth-seeded Paula Badosa on Thursday in the second round of the U.S. Open in New York.

Martic, from Croatia, saved all six of her break points and had a 35-30 edge in winners against Badosa. She also committed 19 unforced errors while the Spaniard had 31.

Martic has advanced past the second round for the third time in the past four U.S. Opens.

Badosa's loss means that three of the tournament's top four seeds -- No. 2 Anett Kontaveit of Estonia, No. 3 Maria Sakkari of Greece and Badosa -- were eliminated from the tournament in the second round. Also, defending champion Emma Raducanu of Great Britain and 2021 finalist Leylah Fernandez of Canada have been sent packing.

Martic will face 26th-seed Victoria Azarenka of Belarus in the third round. Azarenka beat Ukraine's Marta Kostyuk 6-2, 6-3 on Thursday.

Kostyuk refused to shake hands after the match, just quickly tapping the racket of Azarenka. Belarus, a neighboring country of Ukraine, is supporting Russia's invasion and Kostyuk recently criticized Azarenka when the latter was preparing to participate in a Tennis Play for Peace Exhibition to benefit Ukraine.

Azarenka was dropped from the pre-U.S. Open event on Aug. 24 -- the day of the benefit -- but the tension between the two players remains heavy, particularly on Kostyuk's side.

Azarenka said after the win that she's open to having a discussion with Kostyuk.

"I'm open any time to listen, to try to understand, to sympathize," Azarenka said. "I believe that empathy in the moment like this is really important, which has, again, been my clear message since the beginning."

Top-ranked Iga Swiatek of Poland wasn't in any danger of being upset as she posted a 6-3, 6-2 win over 2017 champion Sloane Stephens. Swiatek had a 14-7 edge in winners.

Swiatek will next face American Lauren Davis, who rallied for a 0-6, 6-4, 7-6 (5) triumph over 28th-seeded Ekaterina Alexandrova of Russia.

No. 8 seed Jessica Pegula knocked off Aliaksandra Sasnovich of Belarus 6-4, 6-4. Pegula has reached the third round for the third consecutive year.

She will next face Chinese qualifier Yuan Yue, who beat Romania's Irina-Camelia Begu 6-3, 7-6 (6).

"It's only going to get tougher from here, so I'm just happy with each match and hoping the next match kind of goes the same way," Pegula said. "Try not to get too ahead of myself."

No. 9 seed Garbine Muguruza of Spain rolled to a 6-0, 6-4 victory over Czech qualifier Linda Fruhvirtova. She will next face Czech No. 21 Petra Kvitova, who advanced in a walkover when Anhelina Kalinina of Ukraine withdrew due to illness.

Switzerland's Belinda Bencic, seeded 13th, recovered from a deficit to post a 3-6, 7-5, 6-2 victory over Romania's Sorana Cirstea.