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Sept 5 (Reuters) – The U.S. Open enters its round of 16 on Sunday, with defending champions Aryna Sabalenka and Carlos Alcaraz taking on American hopes Taylor Townsend and Tommy Paul respectively while Ben Shelton, the highest-ranked American in the men’s draw, faces a difficult test against Stefanos Tsitsipas.

TOP WOMEN’S MATCH: ARYNA SABALENKA V TAYLOR TOWNSEND

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Sabalenka’s improved serve helped her to secure a comfortable third-round victory, as she landed 10 aces in a straight-sets win over Kamilla Rakhimova.

The four-time Grand Slam winner, who is aiming for a hat-trick of U.S. Open titles, has yet to drop a set in the tournament, and was more affected by the smell of cannabis in the Louis Armstrong Stadium than her opponents.

“If they’re going to keep smoking, I might get high,” Sabalenka joked after the match.

The 28-year-old Belarusian has not fallen short of the semi-finals in the last five editions, but faces an upbeat opponent in Townsend, who is aiming to reach the quarter-finals of a Grand Slam for the first time.

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“I think this is the most free that I’ve ever been on the court… it’s my time, I’m ready to take it, I’m ready to go,” Townsend said about facing the world number one.

TOP MEN’S MATCH: TOMMY PAUL V CARLOS ALCARAZ

The last five times that defending champion Alcaraz played Paul, the Spaniard won. But the world number three rarely had it easy against the American, who forced Alcaraz into nervy tiebreaks six times in their eight meetings.

“Really difficult one to play. I think he’s really dangerous for everyone on the tour. The way he plays… it’s really complicated to dominate the ball,” Alcaraz said about facing Paul.

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Paul, a former Australian Open semi-finalist, is coming off a hard-fought win over Alexander Bublik, the player who knocked the American out of the U.S. Open last year.

“I think I played Carlos more than anybody on tour, which is kind of crazy… I’m going to do my best,” Paul said.

SHELTON UP FOR TSITSIPAS TEST

It has not been smooth sailing for eighth seed Shelton, who dropped a set in each of the first three rounds, and was dragged into a tiebreak four times.

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During his rain-interrupted third-round clash with Denis Shapovalov, Shelton made 54 unforced errors but overcame his nerves to get the win.

“Not an easy night. Nowhere near my best. Yeah, I got through it,” said the 23-year-old.

Shelton faces a tricky test against Tsitsipas, who beat the American in 2023.

“I think he’s playing great. I think that his style of tennis can be very, very effective on all surfaces… really looking forward to it,” Shelton said.

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U.S. OPEN ORDER OF PLAY ON SUNDAY (prefix number denotes seeding):

ARTHUR ASHE STADIUM (11:30 a.m. ET)

No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka (Belarus) v. Taylor Townsend (U.S.)

No. 20 Tommy Paul (U.S.) v. No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz (Spain)

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No. 8 Ben Shelton (U.S.) v. Stefanos Tsitsipas (Greece)

No. 21 Anna Kalinskaya (Russia) v. No. 26 Emma Navarro (U.S.)

LOUIS ARMSTRONG STADIUM (11:00 a.m. ET)

No. 11 Marta Kostyuk (Ukraine) v. No. 6 Linda Noskova (Czech Republic)

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No. 7 Daniil Medvedev (Russia) v. No. 11 Frances Tiafoe (U.S.)

No. 3 Jessica Pegula (U.S.) v. No. 16 Sorana Cirstea (Romania)

(Reporting by Chiranjit Ojha in Bengaluru; Editing by Clare Fallon)

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