U.S. Open: Simona Halep breezes through to round 4

Second seeded Simona Halep worked the night shift for the first time at the U.S. Open and found it to her liking as she steamed past American qualifier Shelby Rogers 6-2, 6-3 to reach the fourth round at Flushing Meadows.

Halep needed just 67 minutes under the Arthur Ashe Stadium floodlights to complete a dominant display that saw her face a single break point while winning 91 percent of her first serve points.

The 23-year-old Romanian has enjoyed a superb buildup to the year's final grand slam reaching the finals in both Toronto and Cincinnati and carried that form into the U.S. Open, having reached the fourth round without dropping a set.

Halep matched her deepest run at the U.S. Open, the only Grand Slam tournament at which she hasn't reached at least the quarterfinals.

No. 5 Kvitova advances

No. 5 seed Petra Kvitova has moved into the fourth round of the U.S. Open with a 6-2, 6-1 win against 32nd-seeded Anna Karolina Schmiedlova of Slovakia.

It will be Kvitova's third appearance in the fourth round at Flushing Meadows. The two-time Wimbledon champion also accomplished the feat in 2009 and 2012, but she has never made it to the semifinals in the last Grand Slam of the year.

Kvitova never presented Schmiedlova with a break opportunity in the 66-minute match, while the Czech star converted five of her nine break chances.​

Azarenka outlasts Kerber

Victoria Azarenka "pinished" Angelique Kerber.

After closing out a grueling three-set victory that took near 3 hours, Azarenka revealed that hitting partner Sascha Bajin had coined a new term that combined the words "finish" and "punish." She consults notes to herself between games, and that's the word that steadied her after she wasted five match points on the 11th-seeded Kerber's serve.

She said in an on-court interview that she told herself "I'm going to stay here all day" if that was what it took to win.

Instead, the 20th-seeded Azarenka served out the match at love to clinch a 7-5, 2-6, 6-4 victory in the third round Saturday. The two combined for 97 winners and 12 breaks of serve and played 35 rallies of at least 10 shots.

"I just enjoy this hustle, this running down every ball," Azarenka said.

She next faces American Varvara Lepchenko.

Konta upsets Petkovic

British qualifier Johanna Konta beat No. 18 seed Andrea Petkovic of Germany 7-6 (2), 6-3 to reach the fourth round of a Grand Slam for the first time.

Petkovic appeared bothered by the heat during the second set. Trailing Konta 0-3, she had the trainer on court taking her blood pressure and pulse.

The 97th-ranked Konta needed six match points to finish the victory in 1 hour, 56 minutes.

Konta failed to take advantage of three match points in the 18-point seventh game, allowing Petkovic to break her serve.

Two games later, Konta secured the win on her third match point of the ninth game when Petkovic sailed a forehand long.