Jessica Pegula continued with her impressive play today. This time, her unfortunate opponent was American Sofia Kenin. Pegula showed no mercy is dispatching of Kenin 6-3, 6-1. Nest up for Pegula will be [31] Leylah Fernandez, former US Open finalist. We know it takes more than talent to win a major title. It also takes more than desire. The mindset is really the missing ingredient for a player to win a major. Do you truly believe that you can? Do you truly believe that you deserve to win a major? Have you identified yourself as a major champion? Well, only [3] Jessica Pegula can answer those questions.

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Shelton And Other American Successes

[8] Ben Shelton had a pretty stern test in his first encounter with Hubert Hurkacz. Despite the American having the lead in the second set, Hurkacz won the set and forced a third set tiebreaker. Things were pretty tricky for Shelton throughout the match as he did not play his best consistently. In the end he found a way to win. However, at a major, you want your game to be rounding into top form. Shelton won 6-3, 5-7, 7-6(3), 7-5. [11] Frances Tiafoe defeated Rei Sakamoto, 6-3, 7-6(2), 7-5.

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[14] Iva Jovic finally won her delayed match. She defeated Magdalena Frech 7-5, 6-3. Alex Michelsen defeated [16] Brandon Nakashima and that was unexpected given how well Nakashima has been playing lately. It just goes to show you, anyone can get hot on any given day, especially at the majors. Good job from Michelsen protecting his serve so well in the second and third sets. Michelsen won 6-3, 6-4, 6-4. [20] Tommy Paul defeated Dino Prizmic 6-2, 6-3, 5-7, 6-4.

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[26] Emma Navarro fought back after dropping the first set to fellow American, Caty McNally. Navarro won 3-6, 6-2, 6-3. [29] Ann Li got past a potentially dangerous opponent. She defeated Donna Vekic 5-7, 7-6(4), 6-4. Way to go Taylor Townsend. She wins another match, defeating Taylah Preston with double breadsticks. Townsend will have her hands full against Diana Shnaider, who is a pretty powerful player. Shnaider is pumped after defeating former number one ranked player and US Open finalist, Karolina Pliskova.

Good job from Zachary Svajda. He ousted a potentially dangerous opponent, Daniel Altmaier, in four sets. Svajda wobbled a little after leading two sets, he probably got tight. He failed to capitalize on his break point opportunities and lost the tiebreaker. However, he rebounded nicely in the final set, winning 6-3, 6-1, 6-7(5), 6-2. Another pleasant surprise, the wildcard, Michael Zheng defeated Fabian Marozsan 6-4, 6-4, 6-2.

Rublev Amongst Fallen Day Four Seeds

Perhaps we should have expected this loss. After all, a lucky loser is often thrilled at the opportunity to get into the main draw and often produces some of their best tennis. However, I expected [12] Rafael Jodar to rise to the occasion. This was definitely a subpar performance from the talented teenager. It looks like he never showed up. Yunchaokete Bu won 6-2, 6-1, 6-1.

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[23] Andrey Rublev lost to Daniel Merida in four sets after winning the first set. This was not a surprise. Rublev was running on empty after his grueling first round match. The Spaniard won 6-7(3), 6-2, 6-4, 6-4. The veteran Tatjana Maria has done it again. She thrives at the majors, often getting some big wins. This time it was none other than former Roland Garros champion, [30] Jelena Ostapenko. Maria sliced and diced her way to 4-6, 6-1, 6-2 victory.

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