By Amy Tennery
NEW YORK, Aug 30 (Reuters) – American Jessica Pegula cruised past Romania’s Elena-Gabriela Ruse 6-3 6-2 to reach the U.S. Open second round on Sunday, taming early nerves as she opened the action on Arthur Ashe Stadium in her latest bid for a maiden major title.
The world number three squandered eight break-point chances early in the first set before hitting her stride with 26 winners to just 14 from her opponent, closing it out with an unreturnable forehand.
She will have two days’ rest under the 15-day schedule the tournament rolled out last year, and will next play the winner of a match later on Sunday on Ashe between American wildcards Venus Williams and Sofia Kenin.
“I was so nervous today,” she said. “(Now) I get to sit around the site and watch everyone else freak out.”
Those nerves were apparent in a tricky opening set, where Ruse saved eight break points in a marathon third game but sent a shot wide to hand a break to Pegula in the fifth.
The Romanian held her arms aloft after surviving an entertaining cat-and-mouse exchange at the net to save break point in the seventh with a perfect backhand slice.
But Pegula took control of the match from there, cruising through her next service game before breaking Ruse with a forehand winner to close out the set.
Pegula sprinted through the next set, where she won all of her first-serve points and broke in the sixth and eighth games.
(Reporting by Amy Tennery in New YorkEditing by Toby Davis)
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