Sabalenka, Pegula get through tough tests at US Open, with Williams sisters playing doubles at night

NEW YORK (AP) — Aryna Sabalenka was finally challenged by the U.S. Open — by her opponent and by the smell of marijuana. Jessica Pegula was tested as well.

Both players overcame their troubles to reach the fourth round and keep alive the chances of a third straight meeting on the final weekend.

Sabalanka beat Kamilla Rakhimova 6-3, 6-4 on Friday. The No. 1 seed was pushed in a second set that lasted 54 minutes — a minute longer than her entire previous match.

“She played incredible tennis,” Sabalenka said. “She really pushed me so hard in the second set and I love when they bring their best tennis because they really push me to improve.”

Trying to become the first player to win three straight U.S. Open titles since Serena Williams from 2012-14, Sabalenka will face Taylor Townsend in the round of 16.

Williams, who is playing at the U.S. Open for the first time since 2022, will team with sister Venus to play a first-round doubles match against Hao-Ching Chan and Maya Joint, who beat Serena in singles play at Wimbledon this summer.

Sabalenka was serving in the third game of her match in Louis Armstrong Stadium when she tossed the ball but then let it fall to the court. She did the same thing on the next point, with something clearly bothering her.

She then approached the chair umpire to ask for help because she smelled marijuana.

“I was like, guys, you can do whatever, you can smoke whatever, you can relax as much as you can, but please, to not do it around the tennis courts,” Sabalenka said, when asked what she was thinking at the time. “It’s a bit tricky to handle that smell while you’re trying to compete at your best.”

Defending men’s champion Carlos Alcaraz also was in action Friday.

Pegula, the No. 3 seed, fought back to beat 2021 runner-up Leylah Fernandez 1-6, 6-4, 6-3. Pegula, who lost to Sabalenka in the 2024 final and again last year in the semifinals, had a dismal start in which she put only 5 of 16 first serves in during the first set.

Fernandez hadn't won a Grand Slam singles match this year until getting to New York and was trying to reach the fourth round at the U.S. Open for the first time since falling to Emma Raducanu in the final five years ago. Pegula handled her easily in their only meeting this year but said Fernandez showed her different looks that gave her trouble.

“I didn’t start off very well. It was tough,” Pegula said. “I had to dig deep there in the second to turn that around, and it very well could have not turned around.”

Pegula advanced to face Sorana Cirstea, the 36-year-old from Romania who is contemplating retirement after this season. She will have at least one more Grand Slam match after the No. 16 seed beat No. 19 Jasmine Paolini 6-3, 6-3.

Townsend reached the round of 16 for the second straight year by knocking off No. 15 seed Diana Shnaider 6-2, 6-7 (3), 6-3 and seemed eager for the matchup with Sabalenka.

“I’m so excited. I feel like I thrive in these moments," the American said. “I’m built for these moments and so now is my time, I’m ready to take it. I'm ready to go.”

Daniil Medvedev, the 2021 champion, became the first man into the fourth round when he beat Arthur Rinderknech 6-4, 6-4, 6-4. The No. 7 seed will face either No. 11 Frances Tiafoe or No. 22 Valentin Vacherot.

See AP’s full tennis coverage here

Jessica Pegula, of the United States, returns the ball to Leylah Fernandez, of Canada, during the third round of the U.S. Open tennis championships Friday, Sept. 4, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Sorana Cirstea, of Romania, returns the ball to Jasmine Paolini, of Italy, during the third round of the U.S. Open tennis championships Friday, Sept. 4, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Aryna Sabalenka, of Belarus, serves the ball to Kamilla Rakhimova, of Uzbekistan, during the third round of the U.S. Open tennis championships Friday, Sept. 4, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Heather Khalifa)

Aryna Sabalenka, of Belarus, left, embraces Kamilla Rakhimova, of Uzbekistan, after Sabalenka won their match during the third round of the U.S. Open tennis championships Friday, Sept. 4, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Heather Khalifa)

McALLEN, Texas (AP) — A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer was ordered released from federal custody Friday after pleading not guilty to lying to investigators about the circumstances that led to the shooting of a Venezuelan man during the Minnesota immigration crackdown last winter.

The federal indictment accuses Christian Castro of falsely telling investigators that he was attacked with a broom and shovel before he opened fire, injuring Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis in January.

Castro was shackled at his wrists, waist and feet during a brief hearing in the federal court in McAllen after he turned himself into authorities Thursday evening. The judge ordered him released on a $75,000 unsecured bond and with a GPS ankle monitor.

It's the first Justice Department prosecution of a federal officer for actions taken during this year's massive Operation Metro Surge, which brought thousands of agents to the Twin Cities and led to sweeping protests, arrests and the fatal shootings of two U.S. citizens by federal officers.

The allegations in the federal indictment mirror those brought by Minnesota officials, who have separately charged Castro with assault and false reporting of a crime related to the nonfatal shooting of Sosa-Celis.

According to the federal indictment, Castro told an FBI agent that a man grabbed a red broom off a front porch and began hitting him with it while Castro was trying to detain another man outside a Minneapolis home. Castro also claimed that another man hit him with a snow shovel and that he opened fire while on the ground as the men ran away.

The indictment alleges that Castro had a short “physical interaction” with Sosa-Celis and another man, before the two ran into a home with a 1-year-old child inside. Castro then fired a shot through the front door while standing as the men began to close it, hitting Sosa-Celis in the leg, the indictment says.

“No person struck” Castro “with a broom as he described, and no persons wielded the broom and snow shovel as he described,” the indictment says.

An attorney for Castro urged the public not to rush to judgment without learning all the facts and to let his client “have his day in court.” Castro served in the military before becoming a federal immigration officer, the lawyer, David Lindenmuth, said after the hearing.

“His life has been that of public service to our country and to our nation, either through its military or protecting its borders and enforcing its laws,” Lindenmuth said.

Federal prosecutors had initially charged Sosa-Celis and the other man, Alfredo Alejandro Aljorna, with assault but dropped the charges after video evidence showed the officer may have lied about the encounter. Castro was suspended from ICE in February while authorities pursued an investigation.

The federal charges follow Castro’s release from jail last week after Texas’ governor refused to immediately sign an extradition warrant to hand him over to Minnesota authorities.

The federal investigation into Castro created turmoil inside the Justice Department, with a prosecutor on the case accusing higher-ups of blocking efforts to bring more serious civil rights charges.

In an email obtained by ProPublica, the prosecutor told lawyers for Sosa-Celis and others that Castro would be charged only with making false statements over his “strongest objections,” adding the decision was “being directed by the Main Justice and the US Attorney.”

A person familiar with the investigation, however, told The Associated Press on Thursday that the civil rights probe is continuing and additional charges could still be brought.

The prosecutor, Matthew Evans, has since been fired and the Justice Department is now investigating whether he broke any laws during his handling of the case, said the person, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not publicly authorized to discuss ongoing investigations.

An automatic email response from Evans’ Justice Department account said he was on leave, and other attempts to reach him were not immediately successful.

Sosa-Celis' lawyer is pressing for Castro to face stiffer charges, saying in a statement on Thursday that Castro’s statements were made to “cover up the fact that he shot my client through the door of an occupied house without a self-defense justification.”

“Mr. Sosa Celis wants Mr. Castro to be held fully accountable for his crimes,” said the attorney, Robin Wolpert. The American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota said Thursday that Sosa-Celis also plans to seek damages from the federal government.

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Richer reported from Washington.

FILE - A federal agent wears an Immigration and Customs Enforcement badge in New York, June 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura, File)