NEW YORK -- Victoria Azarenka and Beatriz Haddad Maia have a dangerous level of fire-power between them as a doubles team, but what happens when they unleash their stinging baseline games on each other?
We found out at the US Open.
On their way to a dominant 6-2, 6-0 win over 15th seeds Miyu Kato and Aldila Sutjiadi in the third round of doubles, Azarenka lined herself up for a baseline overhead early in the match. Haddad Maia cleared the middle of the court for the two-time Australian Open champion to do her damage, but there was one angle that the Brazilian did not account for.
Azarenka went up for the overhead and framed it right into her partner, eliciting laughs from everyone on the court.
Watch the point below:
No harm, no foul. Azarenka and Haddad Maia have proven a formidable doubles pairing this season, having captured the title in Madrid this spring. Unseeded and dangerous, they secured the win to advance to the quarterfinals. They will face 2020 champions Laura Siegemund and Vera Zvonareva for a spot in the semifinals.
In other doubles action, No.3 seeds Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula kept their chances of finishing the tournament as joint-No.1s after defeating Marta Kostyuk and Elena-Gabriela Ruse 6-4, 6-1. The Americans next face French Open champions Hsieh Su-Wei and Wang Xinyu in the quarterfinals. Hsieh is also in the running to finish the tournament at No.1.
Taylor Townsend has taken the confidence of winning her first WTA 1000 title in Cincinnati into New York, emerging as one of the fan-favorite stars of the event. She is into the semifinals of the mixed doubles with Ben Shelton and the quarterfinals of doubles with Leylah Fernandez. Seeded sixth, Fernandez and Townsend will face Gabrieka Dabrowski and Erin Routliffe. Townsend can also finish the tournament at No.1, pending results.
The last quarterfinal features two unseeded teams. Jennifer Brady and Luisa Stefani will face Magda Linette and Bernarda Pera.
