Friday 24 August 2018 11:58, UK
British duo Heather Watson and Katie Swan will face off for a place in the US Open main draw on Friday after both eased into the final round of qualifying at Flushing Meadows.
The pair are the last two British players remaining in qualifying but only one can join automatic entrants Johanna Konta, Andy Murray, Kyle Edmund and Cameron Norrie in the field for the year's final Grand Slam, which begins on Monday.
Swan was the first to come through, the 19-year-old avoiding the jangling nerves of her first-round encounter with a dominant 6-1 6-4 victory over 17th seed Nao Hibino of Japan.
This is Swan's first taste of a senior grand slam tournament outside of Wimbledon and her performances so far are another indication of what an exciting talent the teenager, currently ranked 179, is.
Watson is an old hand but is also treading new ground this year having lost all her previous senior matches in New York since winning the junior title in 2009.
Dropping down to qualifying after seven straight first-round losses appears to have been a benefit for Watson, who impressed in a 6-1 6-2 victory over another Japanese player, Ayano Shimizu.
This will be a first career meeting between Swan and Watson, whose ranking has slipped to 116 after a disappointing season so far.
Earlier there were defeats for brother and sister Naomi and Liam Broady. Naomi was beaten 6-4 7-6 (7-3) by Spain's Georgina Garcia Perez while Liam lost a deciding tie-break to Uladzimir Ignatik of Belarus.
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Tennis is back on Sky Sports screens with the Laver Cup in September while we will also have coverage of the ATP Finals in November with every match live on Sky Sports. But first, we will be across the final major of the year in New York as the US Open gets underway on August 27, right through to the final with live blogs, reports, features and reaction.
