There was no great escape this time for Madison Keys as a resurgent Caroline Wozniacki knocked the eighth seeded American out of the US Open fourth round with a tidy 6-3 6-4 win on Sunday.
Wozniacki, a US Open finalist in 2009 and 2014 but unseeded this year after being sidelined for two months by an ankle injury, dominated from the start and wrapped up victory in a speedy 78 minutes on a sun-splashed Arthur Ashe Stadium court.
After rallying from a set and a break down in her opening match and then coming back from 5-1 down in the third to beat Japan's Naomi Osaka, Keys could not find a way round the former world No.1, who took no chances closing out the match on her first match point.
Next up for the 74th ranked Dane is Latvian Anastasija Sevastova, who was a 6-4 7-5 winner over Johanna Konta.
The British No.1 was out of sorts and paid the price as world No.48 Sevastova won 6-4 7-5 to continue her remarkable run.
Three years ago Sevastova gave up tennis, fed up with injuries and poor form, and her only time spent with a racket came when giving lessons down at her local club.
Underwhelmed, however, by a college course in management, she returned in January 2015, initially at a lower level, and this year in the grand slams.
The 26-year-old's wily style of play was enough to see off French Open champion Garbine Muguruza in round two and it upset Konta, who played in fits and starts but just never found her rhythm.
"It was hard moments in 2013," Sevastova said on court. I was injured on and off, it was tough to play, it was not any fun and kind of depressing. But now I'm back."
Konta made 34 unforced errors, more than five times the six she made in the previous round, with 16 coming on her favoured backhand side while her serve was broken seven times.
Italian seventh seed Roberta Vinci is also through to the last eight, taming Ukraine's Lesia Tsurenko 7-6(5) 6-2.
Tsurenko, at number 99 the lowest ranked player to make it through to the last 16, represented a tricky test for last year's runner-up, having knocked off 12th seed Dominika Cibulkova and 21st seed Irina-Camelia Begu to get to the fourth round.
The 27-year-old Ukrainian looked a chance to add another seeded scalp to her Flushing Meadows collection as she forced the first set to a tiebreak before surrendering 7-5.
After a draining 67-minute opening set, Tsurenko had little left in the tank for the second and Vinci quickly stamped her authority on the match by going up a break and cruising to an easy win.
Vinci will now face Australian Open champion Angelique Kerber after the world number two beat 14th seed Petra Kvitova 6-3 7-5.
The result means Serena Williams will have to reach the final and, if it comes against Kerber, win the tournament to prevent the German taking top spot in the rankings.
