NEW YORK (Reuters) – Former champion Naomi Osaka survived a third-round scare before grinding out a 6-3 6-7(4) 6-2 victory over Ukrainian teenager Marta Kostyuk to reach the last 16 of the U.S. Open on Friday.
The Japanese fourth seed looked out of sorts in the second set tiebreaker but regrouped to secure the victory in the deciding set after two hours and 33 minutes against an 18-year-old who was making her U.S. Open main draw debut.
Osaka, whose left leg was heavily taped after suffering a hamstring injury that forced her to withdraw from the final of a tune-up event last week, wasted little time in the decider as she went up a double break before serving out the match at love.
The two-times Grand Slam champion will face either Estonian 14th seed Anett Kontaveit or Polish 24th seed Magda Linette in the fourth round.
(Reporting by Frank Pingue in Toronto; Editing by Ian Chadband)
