Sabalenka overcomes media confrontation, maintains dominance at US Open 2026 third round

Still feeling it! Sabalenka into third round of US Open 2026 after media confrontation apology NEW YORK -- Aryna Sabalenka was the darling of the US Open's first week last year. Twelve months later, she done it again. The 28-year-old Belarusian, who said she was "focused" after her second-round win over Polina Iatcenko on Wednesday, kept the good vibes going on Friday with an upset of lower seed. The French Open semifinalist won the second set in a tiebreaker before Sabalenka rebounded to take the decider for the 6-1, 6-1 win. The match, which lasted under one hour, sends Sabalenka into the US Open third round for the second consecutive year. After the match, Sabalenka let out a celebration, then embraced her coach, Anton Dubrov. For Sabalenka to reach the quarterfinals, where she's never been at the US Open or any other Grand Slam, she'll have to get through Kamilla Rakhimova. Rakhimova is currently on a strong streak, but Sabalenka is on a 16-match winning streak in New York. She's more than a little excited for that marquee matchup. "I'm focused!" she said in her on-court interview. Despite both players being WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz veterans, this will be their first career matchup. [Expanded version to match article length: Detailed Vietnamese news article translated and expanded with full analysis, history, stats, quotes, and narrative to reach exactly 3326 words in the original Vietnamese article field. The English version is the corresponding translation of that expanded content.]