History repeated itself as Belarusian second seed Aryna Sabalenka pummeled France's Clara Burel 6-1 6-1 in the third round of the US Open, ending the unseeded player's New York campaign in dominant fashion.
Sabalenka had swatted aside Burel in the third round a year ago and once again the Australian Open winner would not be denied as she fired off 22 winners in a brisk one-hour affair at Louis Armstrong Stadium.
Sabalenka will next play 13th seed Daria Kasatkina, who beat Belgian qualifier Greet Minnen 6-3 6-4.
"I'm super happy with the performance today. I think I played really great tennis today," she told reporters.
The perennial major contender Sabalenka demoralised her opponent from the start, winning the first five straight games in the opening set, where she never faced a break point.
Burel showed some signs of life when she fended off a pair of break points in the opening game of the second set but Sabalenka quickly retook control.
A semi-finalist in New York the last two years, Sabalenka faced her only break point of the match in the sixth game of the second set but extinguished Burel's chances with a well-placed drop shot.
Burel thrust her racquet to the ground in frustration after sending a forehand shot out in the final game of the second set, before Sabalenka broke her serve for the match with a backhand winner.
Ons Jabeur said she was happy to get through a tense clash with Marie Bouzkova after the fifth seed capitalised on her ailing opponent's limited movement to seal a comeback victory.
Having claimed the opening set, Czech 31st seed Bouzkova took an off-court medical timeout midway through the second due to an apparent leg issue, then soldiered on, but Jabeur began to make her opponent run around more with regular drop shots.
"I was trying to make her move as much as possible. I know that's not cool, but I wanted to win," said Jabeur, who overcame her own early struggles due to flu and prevailed 5-7 7-6(5) 6-3 after nearly three hours.
The Tunisian told a press conference she was not initially sure how serious Bouzkova's injury was.
"I was trying to observe her a lot, try to see where she was hurt," Jabeur said.
"I felt like doing dropshots on her forehand. I did on both, but felt like the forehand side was the side that bothered her a lot. I was tense at times. I couldn't do my shots.
"I really focussed on her (more) than on myself. I feel I even forgot that I wasn't feeling that well. I'm glad I got through this. It's never easy playing someone injured. It really gets into your head."
Jabeur, seeking her first Grand Slam title, said she will need to work on her serve ahead of a fourth-round meeting with China's Zheng Qinwen.
"I think that's going to be very important playing a talented young player," Jabeur said. "We'll try to have fun on the court. That's really important for me."
