Ons Jabeur has continued Daria Kasatkina's joke about wanting to drink alcohol to unwind at the US Open.

Fifth seed Jabeur has had a successful run at the last Grand Slam of the year at Flushing Meadows, ousting Camila Osorio and Linda Noskova to set up a third-round clash with 31st seed Marie Bouzkova.

Meanwhile, world No. 14 Kasatkina defeated home hopes Alycia Parks and Sofia Kenin to progress through to the third round. There, she will face Greet Minnen, who got the better of Venus Williams in her opening match.

During her on-court interview after her second-round win, the 26-year-old Russian explained that it was difficult to unwind at the US Open.

"I wish I knew what to do to forget about tennis. Because it’s always just spinning around here in the head – it’s like… sometimes I’m getting sick from it," she said.

Kasatkina stressed that even when she left the courts in an attempt to relax, tennis content was everywhere, joking that she needs alcohol to turn her head off from the sport.

"Especially when you are in the Slam, when you are trying hard to just turn off your head and think about something else, it’s just everywhere in the city. You go for a walk, and everywhere is the US Open advertising. It’s impossible to forget.

"If you’ll find out something on how to turn off your head without using alcohol for example, you tell me, okay?" she joked.

Following this, Jabeur was asked in her post-match press conference about the joke and how she would recover from the stress of the Slam and the WTA season in general.

"Well if we [her and Kasatkina] play each other, I’ll bring her the bottle myself," she joked. This caused the room to burst out laughing as Jabeur continued.
"I'll make sure she's hydrated," she added.

The two players have faced each other 7 times in the past, with Jabeur leading their head-to-head 5-2.