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Li does get her side of the scoreboard going, breaking to reduce her deficit to 3-1, but Pegula locks straight back in to restore her double break before holding to 15. Only 23 minutes in, it’s very hard to see how Li can find a way back. Her second serve is batting practice for Pegula, who’s won all 10 of those points, make that 11. And in no time at all it’s 15-40, two set points. Pegula nets on the first and Li messes up her slice on the set. Pegula rattles through the first set 6-1.
Lehecka, meanwhile, has got a second set point in the opener against Mannarino, leading 5-4 and at advantage on Mannarino’s serve. Mannarino shows unrelenting resolve to save it. This match represents a big opportunity for these two left-handers, despite being at very different stages of their careers. The 37-year-old Frenchman Mannarino, in his 15th US Open, and the 23-year-old Czech Lehecka are both attempting to reach the last eight for the first time. Mannarino fends off a third set point before holding after six deuces. It’s 5-5.
The support, it has to be said, for each player is fairly muted in the opening exchanges, because the stands are nowhere near full, unlike for Coco Gauff’s early match yesterday. Pegula is locked in from the off, breaking to 15 in the opening game, before holding to love and then breaking from deuce when she treats a second serve with utter disdain by battering a backhand winner. Li is already glancing up at her box looking for answers.
