Sloane Stephens loses past-champions showdown at U.S. Open

NEW YORK — Angelique Kerber won a matchup of previous U.S Open champions when she beat Sloane Stephens, 5-7, 6-2, 6-3, in the third round of the U.S. Open on Friday.

The reward for the 16th-seeded Kerber? A potential date with No. 3 seed and defending champion Naomi Osaka.

Kerber, the 2016 champion, was ruthless in the third set to knock out 2017 champion Stephens.

Kerber beat Stephens for only the second time in seven career matchups. The 33-year-old Kerber won for the second straight day and laughed when she said she could use the day off Saturday.

Garbine Muguruza and Simona Halep have mastered the grass at Wimbledon and conquered the clay at the French Open.

Maybe they finally have the answers for the hard courts of the U.S. Open.

The two-time Grand Slam champions pulled out three-set victories to reach the fourth round of the year’s final Grand Slam tournament.

Muguruza beat three-time U.S. Open finalist Victoria Azarenka, 6-4, 3-6, 6-2, to match her best showing in New York.

The No. 9 seed from Spain reached the round of 16 in 2017, right after winning her Wimbledon title. She hadn’t been past the second round since, though said she’s always liked playing in New York despite her struggles.

“This year so far it’s working, so I just want to keep going,” Muguruza said.

Same with Halep, who fought through a marathon first-set tiebreaker and eventually beat Elena Rybakina, 7-6 (11), 4-6, 6-3, to reach the U.S. Open fourth round for the first time since 2016.

Daniil Medvedev had a much easier time, as he has the entire first week. The No. 2 seed and 2019 runner-up beat Pablo Andujar, 6-0, 6-4, 6-3, and has dropped just 22 games in three rounds.

Muguruza and Halep have been finalists at the Australian Open, also played on a hard court. But the U.S. Open had proven a more difficult puzzle for both — more difficult than Halep even realized.

She said during her interview on the court after the match that it was good to be playing this late in the U.S. Open for the first time in three years. Her brother sent her a message saying it was actually two years longer.

“I correct it now,” she said during her news conference.

Halep had lost in the first round in both 2017 and ’18 — the latter the first time that had happened to the No. 1 seed in the first round at the U.S. Open — and her success this time was tough to expect after she missed Wimbledon and the French Open with a calf injury.

The No. 12 seed from Romania needed seven set points to finally win the tiebreaker — after she was broken at love when serving for the set at 6-5.

She eventually won it when the 19th-seeded Rybakina double-faulted, then worked her way to the round of 16 for the first time since reaching the quarterfinals in 2016.

“I know that every match is a battle,” Halep said. “But I’m there, and if I’m healthy, I’m confident that I can play my game.”

Muguruza will next play No. 8 seed Barbora Krejcikova, the French Open champion who is into the fourth round in her debut in the main draw of the U.S. Open.