Serena Williams of the US returns to compatriot Sloane Stephens at the US Open tennis championships in New York on September 1, 2013. PHOTO: AFP
Serena defeated US 15th seed Sloane Stephens 6-4, 6-1 to reach the US Open quarter-finals, winning eight of the last nine games in avenging a loss that ousted her from the 2013 Australian Open.
“It definitely felt like a bigger match because Sloane is such a great player, but I had to stay focused in the moment,” said Serena.
Stephens said she was simply outplayed by the world’s best.
“She’s number one for a reason,” said Stephens. “She played pretty well. She did a lot of things well.”
Serena booked a quarter-final against Spanish 18th seed Carla Suarez Navarro, who upset German eighth seed Angelique Kerber 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7/3).
Also booking a quarter-final matchup were Chinese fifth-seed Li, who comfortably beat Serbian ninth-seed Jelena Jankovic 6-3, 6-0, and Russian 24th seed Ekaterina Makarova, who upset Polish third-seed Agnieszka Radwanska 6-4, 6-4.
Men’s top seeds turn up heat
In the men’s singles event, defending champion Andy Murray and 2001 winner Lleyton Hewitt made light of the heavy, humid New York conditions on Sunday to breeze into the US Open last 16.
Third-seeded Murray, who ended his country’s 76-year wait for a Grand Slam men’s champion when he won his maiden major title in New York last year, eased past Germany’s world number 49 Florian Mayer, 7-6 (7/2), 6-2, 6-2.
“I think I need to start my matches quicker than I have been doing,” said the 26-year-old. “I am not that fast out of the blocks. But once I got going I was striking the ball cleanly.”
Murray, the reigning Olympic and Wimbledon champion, will next face Uzbekistan’s world number 65 Denis Istomin, who put out Italian 20th seed Andreas Seppi, 6-3, 6-4, 2-6, 3-6, 6-1.
Meanwhile, Hewitt reached the fourth round of a Grand Slam for the 30th time with a 6-3, 7-6 (7/5), 6-1 win over Russia’s Evgeny Donskoy.
“It’s always great to come back to New York,” said Hewitt. “I have played some of my best tennis here.”
In another match, top seed Novak Djokovic also reached the last 16 with a 6-0, 6-2, 6-2 win over world number 95 Joao Sousa.
In other matches, Tomas Berdych eased past French 31st seed Julien Benneteau, 6-0, 6-3, 6-2 and Stanislas Wawrinka got past unseeded Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis 6-3, 6-2, 6-7 (1/7), 7-6 (9/7).
Published in The Express Tribune, September 3rd, 2013.
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