Karolina Pliskova outlasts Victoria Azarenka to enter US Open quarterfinals

In a battle between former World No.1 players, No. 22 seed Karolina Pliskova outlasted No. 26 Victoria Azarenka to reach the US Open quarter-finals on Monday.

It took three hours for Pliskova to outlast the three-time finalist Azarenka 7-5, 6-7 (5), 6-2.

The two tour veterans faced each other for the first time since 2019. Pliskova will next face No. 6 seed Aryna Sabalenka, who came back from a set down to defeat No. 19 Danielle Collins 3-6, 6-3, 6-2.

Pliskova fought through her match with Azarenka by holding her unforced error count fairly low. On Monday night, Pliskova had 53 winners but only 36 unforced errors. Azarenka's differential was still positive, but she had only nine more winners than unforced errors.

On the other hand, Aryna Sabalenka produced a spirited comeback beating Danielle Collins 3-6, 6-3, 6-2. In the first set of the match, Collins ran through the opening set with 12 winners to eight unforced errors, blocking Sabalenka's eight winners.

In the second set, as Collins had to work hard to find her first-set range, Sabalenka stayed steady. She lost just two more games in the match.

Sabalenka needed 2 hours and 29 minutes to get past Collins.