NEW YORK _ Jennifer Brady had one overpowering thought after she lunged and fell to the ground on Court 17 during the third-set tiebreaker of her strenuous match against Romania's Monica Niculescu on Saturday. "I didn't want to get up," said Brady, the former UCLA standout. "I was tired and laying there felt nice."
After a few seconds' respite she rose to her feet. Two points later, she had a 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (3) victory and a berth in the fourth round of the U.S. Open. "Both fun and frustrating," Brady said of the match, in which she showcased her devastating forehand.
Brady moved on to face world No. 1 Karolina Pliskova. Brady expects to feel awe and a sense of freedom because she has already acquitted herself so well. "At times you kind of come back to reality and are, 'On paper, I'm not supposed to win this match,'" she said. "I'll just go out there and compete and have fun."
Naomi Osaka's run ended in the third round when qualifier Kaia Kanepi of Estonia beat her 6-3, 2-6, 7-5. "I think I was a bit emotionally unstable," the 19-year-old Osaka said. "I think she would be more positive than negative. She didn't have any outbursts or anything, and I had a lot."
French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko, feeling ill, fell to Daria Kasatkina 6-3, 6-2. "Because the draw was very open, I thought I can play better and better every match," the Latvian said. "But today I was not feeling very well, so I couldn't really play my game."
Lucie Safarova advanced with a straight-sets win over Kurumi Nara and will face No. 20 CoCo Vandeweghe, who outbattled No. 10 Agnieszka Radwanska, 7-5, 4-6, 6-4. No. 4 Elina Svitolina moved on with a 6-4, 7-5 victory over American Shelby Rogers.
Among the men, Russian Andrey Rublev reached the fourth round with a 6-4, 6-4, 5-7, 6-4 with over Damir Dzumhur of Bosnia-Herzegovina. Rublev will face No. 9 David Goffin, who was up 7-5, 5-1 when No. 18 Gael Monfils retired. No. 6 Dominic Thiem, a straight-sets winner over Adrian Mannarino, will face No. 24 Juan Martin del Potro, who beat No. 11 Roberto Bautista Agut in straight sets.
