She came out to play good tennis.
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Next up for Williams is Ro-manian fifth seed Simona Halep, who beat Spaniard Carla Suarez Navarro 6-2 7-5.
Somehow, though, she pulled herself together enough to get through the tiebreaker as Williams faltered.
It was the most lopsided defeat of Williams’ career.
“I’m so happy to win it in two sets and to reach the semifinals again, it means a lot to me”. “I just think winning 308 matches in general is pretty awesome”. Williams has a 7-1 head-to-head lead on her. Kerber beat Serena to win the Australian Open in January, while Serena earned a measure of revenge in the Wimbledon final.
If Kerber makes the final, Williams will have to win the title to hold on to the top spot.
It took her a while to finish off this one, despite going up an early break in the third set and leading 4-2. The result of their quarter-final yesterday was unavailable by press time.
Saturday’s victory was filled with added meaning, as it marked William’s 307th career victory in grand slam play.
The 29-year-old may have also become the new man to beat in NY, given top seed Novak Djokovic was partially hindered by an elbow injury in his victory over Kyle Edmund on Sunday and is also short on match play. Now it’s Halep’s turn to try to deal with the serve of Serena Williams, who reached a tournament-best 126 miles per hour, delivered 11 aces and won 28 of 30 first-serve points against Shvedova.
In the quarterfinals, del Potro’s opponent will be No. 3 Wawrinka, a 6-4, 6-1, 6-7 (5), 6-3 victor against Illya Marchenko.
And it worked – after a close opening set against Vinci, she sailed through the second without a care in the world.
Del Potro is back at the US Open after a three-year absence. That marked the beginning of yet another rebirth in his career, the Argentine having been struck down by serious wrist injuries in 2014 and 2015.
The 30-year-old 10th seed from France was in control throughout against his 22-year-old compatriot, who shocked 14-time major victor Rafael Nadal in an epic fifth-set tiebreaker to reach the quarter-finals.
As for Kerber, she is not allowing herself to think ahead to a potential third Grand Slam final meeting with Serena.
The 2012 title victor at Flushing Meadows, Andy Murray, eased into the quarterfinals for the 22nd time in his past 23 majors, beating No. 22 Grigor Dimitrov 6-1, 6-2, 6-2 at night. “Everyone I’m playing is playing like they’re No. 1”, Williams said.
Kerber on Tuesday cruised past No. 7 Roberta Vinci, 7-5, 6-0, in the quarterfinals.
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The rest of the quarter-finals will be played on Thursday morning (AEST).
