Taylor Townsend keeps coming to the net and keeps winning, beating Sorana Cirstea 7-5, 6-2 to advance to the US Open round of 16 for the first time.
Townsend, an American qualifier ranked No. 116, advanced further than she's ever gone in a Grand Slam by doing what she does best: serve and volleying, chipping and charging, and coming forward. She came to the net 75 times, winning 47 of those points against the 106th-ranked Cirstea.
Townsend came to the net 106 times in her three-set, second-round upset of Wimbledon champion Simona Halep, the No. 4 seed.
"I just tried to do what I did in the last round and tried to get better," Townsend said.
Townsend amassed a 47-8 advantage in net points won and never let Cirstea come back in a match that lasted less than 90 minutes. Townsend's previous best result at a major tournament was when she reached the third round at the 2014 French Open at age 18.
Townsend next faces 15th-seeded Bianca Andreescu, a 6-4, 6-4 winner over No. 19 Caroline Wozniacki.
"I kind of know what to expect. I know she loves coming to the net. She has incredible volleys,'' Andreescu said of Townsend. "I'll for sure work on some passing shots tomorrow during my practice.''
Like Townsend, Andreescu has now advanced the furthest she ever has in a Grand Slam. The 19-year-old Canadian has already won two hard-court titles this year in Toronto and Indian Wells.
Also advancing in Saturday's early session was Elise Mertens, who beat Andrea Petkovic 6-3, 6-3.
Mertens, the No. 25 seed from Belgium who was a semifinalist at last year's Australian Open, used her consistent serve to control the match, hitting seven aces and winning more than 70% of her first-serve points. She also cracked 26 winners, twice that of Petkovic.
Mertens advances to play American Kristie Ahn, who notched a 6-3, 7-5 win against former French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko.
Ranked 141st, Ahn took an injury timeout midway through the second set after landing awkwardly on her left knee. Returning to the court with the knee heavily taped, she came back from a 3-2 deficit to take the lead before closing out the match with an ace.
Ahn first qualified for the US Open in 2008 at age 16 but didn't collect her prize money so she could play at Stanford, where she helped the Cardinal win the 2013 championship.
Her parents agreed to support her tennis afterward, with the understanding she'd stop by the end of 2017 to pursue another career if she wasn't advancing in tennis. Ahn didn't and kept playing. Although she failed to qualify at Flushing Meadows the past three years, she finally made it back into the main draw this year by winning the US Open wild card challenge.
"I've heard so many people regret not striving for their dreams,'' she said.
Julia Goerges knocked off Kiki Bertens, while Yulia Putintseva dispatched Donna Vekic in other matches on Saturday. Goerges and Putintseva will face each other in the next round on Monday.
Belinda Bencic reached the fourth round Saturday with a walkover after Anett Kontaveit withdrew from singles play with an acute viral illness.
Kontaveit, the No. 21 seed from Estonia, will however remain in the doubles competition with partner Daria Kasatkina.
The No. 13-seeded Bencic next plays the winner of the much-anticipated night match in Arthur Ashe Stadium between No. 1 Naomi Osaka and 15-year-old American rising star Coco Gauff.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.