Spain's favorite Carlos Alcaraz powered into the third round of the US Open with a 6-3, 6-1, 7-6(4) victory over Lloyd Harris of South Africa on Thursday.

"It was good for me to stay there and to be able to win in straight sets. We did great points to make the people enjoy watching tennis, and I think we did it pretty well today," the 20-year-old said of his US Open men's singles title defense. Alcaraz will now face Daniel Evans of Britain in the next round.

Second seed Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus also dominated Britain's Jodie Burrage 6-3, 6-2 in 74 minutes, moving forward to meet France's Clara Burel who upset Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic 6-4, 6-2.

"I am focusing on myself more than on the ranking. I am trying to shift my focus on myself, on my game, and on improving myself," Sabalenka said of her performance. "I didn't lose my focus today, not for a minute. I am super happy with my level today."

China's Zheng Qinwen secured a 6-2, 3-6, 6-2 victory over Kaia Kanepi of Estonia to enter the women's singles third round, together with compatriots Zhu Lin and Wang Xinyu.

Also on Thursday, Wang Yafan of China lost to Britain's Katie Boulter 5-7, 6-1, 6-4, while in the men's singles, 13th seed Alex de Minaur of Australia defeated China's Wu Yibing 6-1, 6-2, 6-1.

"Grand Slam players have great power and tactics. To have a strong mentality is important to win a game here," Zheng said. "Chinese tennis has made remarkable progress these years and is expected to be even better in the future."

Eight-seeded women's pair Wang Xinyu and Chinese Taipei's Hsieh Su-wei beat Colombia's Camila Osorio and Linda Fruhvirtova of the Czech Republic 4-6, 7-5, 6-2, while 11th seed Yang Zhaoxuan of China and Latisha Chan of Chinese Taipei also advanced with 6-1, 6-1 win over the French-Russian pair of Varvara Gracheva and Anna Blinkova.

Another pair Zhu Lin and Chinese Taipei's Wu Fang-hsien claimed a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Boulter and Kazakhstan's Yulia Putintseva.

Elsewhere, China's Wang Xiyu and Jasmine Paolini of Italy lost 7-6, 6-1 to the Russian pair of Liudmila Samsonova and Veronika Kudermetova in the women's doubles, while Marcel Granollers of Spain and Argentina's Horacio Zeballos prevailed over the Chinese-Colombian pairing of Zhang Zhizhen and Daniel Elahi Galan 6-4, 6-4. 

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