Italian seventh seed Roberta Vinci was first through to the US Open quarterfinals, taming Ukraine's Lesia Tsurenko 7-6 (5), 6-2 on Sunday.
Tsurenko, at No. 99 the lowest ranked player to make it through to the last 16, represented a tricky test for last year's US Open 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.
“The tiebreak was a lot of pressure but I said, I have to win this set because I think the key was to win the first set," said Vinci, after reaching the quarterfinals in Flushing Meadows for the fourth time in five years. “I think she was tired at the end. I don't know why I'm always playing good here. Maybe the courts, maybe the atmosphere, maybe the crowd.
“Maybe also because this tournament is almost at the end of the season and I always playing good this part of the season. I don't know why. Really, I don't know but I love to play here in the States.”
Vinci now finds herself just two wins away from returning to the US Open final where she lost to fellow Italian Flavia Pennetta.
To reach the 2015 final Vinci pulled off one of the biggest ever grand slam upsets when she knocked off world number one and hot favourite Serena Williams in the semi-finals.
This year the 33-year-old Italian's big test could come a bit earlier in the quarters, where she will face either second-seeded Australian Open champion Angelique Kerber or 14th-seeded twice Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova.
“Is always in my mind. I remember everything,” said Vinci recalling her stunning upset of Williams. “That match was for me an incredible match, the best match of my life for sure. I know it's tough to repeat again the same results of last year, but I'm in the quarterfinal. I have won four matches here. I don't want to stop. I want to continue.”
Keys locked out of quarters
There was no great escape this time for Madison Keys as a resurgent Caroline Wozniacki locked the eighth seeded American out of the US Open quarterfinals 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 Britain's Johanna Konta.
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