The Tunisian Ons Jabeur (5th), finalist of the last Wimbledon, was the first to qualify for the round of 16, dismissing at the end of the morning the American Shelby Rogers (31st) 4-6, 6-4, 6- 3. Among the men, the Italian Matteo Berrettini (14th) overcame the still fierce resistance, at 35, of the Briton Andy Murray (51st), winner 2012, 6-4, 6-4, 6-7 (1/7 ), 6-3.

But all eyes are on the first match of the night session on the huge Arthur-Ashe court where Williams will face Tomljanovic from 7:00 p.m. (GMT-4), in front of 23,800 noisily pro-Serena spectators.

The victory in the first round against the Montenegrin Danka Kovinic (80th in the world) had brought joy to Serena and to the New York public. That in the second round against the world No.2 Anett Kontaveit gave rise to wild hope: and if the champion went to Flushing Meadows to seek the 24th Major which would allow her to equal the absolute record of Margaret Court, after which she has been chasing since her victory at the Australian Open 2017?

On the evening of his success over the Estonian, the former world No.1 Mats Wilander admitted to being “amazed” by Serena Williams’ performance and level of play.

“Her mobility is much better than I ever imagined and her serve is coming back. She’s a threat now,” said the Swede, now a consultant for Eurosport.

He considers that at almost 41 years old (she will be on September 26), the American has demonstrated that she was “of course” capable of going for a 7th trophy at the US Open, where she had won the first of his 23 Grand Slam titles in 1999.

– Favorite – 

The change from the first two rounds is that this time Williams will be the favourite. And Tomljanovic seems to approach this meeting with the eyes of Chimène.

“Before the draw, I imagined that I was facing him on the Arthur-Ashe. I’m happy that it actually happened,” she said.

“I will always remember it… It will be a special moment, whatever the result,” added the 29-year-old Australian who reached the third round last year, her best result in New York. .

Her desire to do better will nevertheless push her to defend her chances at all costs.

“Even though I’ve been a Serena fan since I was a child, Friday night I’ll just be a competitor and I’ll do everything to win,” assured the player who achieved her best result in a Major at Wimbledon where she played the quarter-finals of the last two editions.

– “The eye of the tiger” –

Arrived in New York in lack of matches and victories (only one, in Toronto at the beginning of August, since her defeat in the round of 16 at Roland-Garros in June 2021), the youngest of the Williams sisters, today down to 605th in the world , was in lack of confidence.

“Everything didn’t fall into place in my last matches and I was like, But, that’s not me! And during these two meetings, here in New York, it actually fell into place,” said she pointed out on Wednesday evening.

So after her performances in the first two rounds, Wilander simply notes: “She becomes Serena.”

“She has the eye of the tiger, it’s incredible,” he insists, noting the tremendous transformation of a player at the end of her career looking for the right moment to bow out, into a champion as efficient and motivated as dangerous for his opponents.

And if it were necessary to complicate her situation, Tomljanovic knows that she will also have to deal with a terribly hostile public.

“I remember Novak (Djokovic) saying that when the public is against him, he imagines on the contrary that he encourages him (…) I liked it and I could do the same on Friday evening”, he said. -she explains.

The example to follow is good. Will it be enough?