New York [US], September 4 (ANI): Kazakhstan's Elena Rybakina advanced to the third round of the ongoing US Open, following a straight-sets win over Jessica Bouzas Maneiro on Thursday, taking further steps towards the number one spot. 

Rybakina broke twice in the first set, winning it 6-2 and was leading 5-2 in the second set before she faced a hiccup. Jessico broke while Rybakina was serving at 5-3, but the Kazakhstan star held her nerves, producing a break of her own in the third game, completing a 6-2, 6-4 victory in 1 hour, 8 minutes.

This is her second win over Jessica in their as many WTA head-to-head matches. 

Rybakina hit 22 winners, including seven aces, against 15 unforced errors on route to her win. The 27-year-old, who had captured her second Grand Slam title, the Australian Open in January, is just three wins away from top-ranking, needing to reach the semifinals to guarantee her the top spot. 

Her next opponent will be Ukraine's Yuliia Starodubtseva, which marks a rematch of their French Open second-round match, which the latter won. Rybakina has failed to make past the fourth round in all her US Open appearances.

Meanwhile, the two-time Grand Slammer and US sensation Coco Gauff managed to beat Paula Badosa for the first time in two years, booking her slot in the third round of the US Open, a competition she won back in 2023. 

The world number four is in the third round at New York for the fifth successive time with a 6-4, 7-6 (5) win over the Spaniard. Her next challenge will be Spain's top player, Cristina Busca, in the next round. 

Badosa had won their previous two meetings on the WTA tour, but the two-hour win improves Gauff's head-to-head record against her to 4-5. Before this, her last win over the Spanish star was way back at the 2024 China Open.  

Following the win, Gauff termed the win a 'big confidence booster'.  

'I think it is good to be battle-tested,' Gauff said to the press, as quoted by WTA's official website. 'When I won here in 2023, I think I went three sets, I felt like, almost every match. When I saw the draw, I was, like, 'Well, I lost to Daria a bunch of times, and I lost to Paula a bunch of times.' So I knew if I got through my first-round match, the second round was just going to be tough, regardless.'

'I think for me it is a good confidence booster knowing that I can get through these matches. Obviously, you know, I would prefer maybe not to play somebody I have lost to so many times in the second round. But I think today was a big confidence booster,' she said. (ANI)