Williams was asked about her neon pink sleeves on the court and again later in the interview room. She’s serving pretty well both serves, playing aggressive on the return.
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The Argentinean, making his first appearance at the tournament in three years due to injury, won through to the next round 7-6 (7-3), 6-2, 6-3.
The sight of yet another Williams blowout victory over yet another overmatched opponent – Saturday’s 60-minute 6-2, 6-1 annihilation of Sweden’s Johanna Larsson in the U.S. Open third round in Arthur Ashe Stadium a case in point – makes it easy not to appreciate properly her incredible accomplishments and sustained greatness. That total surpassed Martina Navratilova for the most in women’s tennis history and tied Roger Federer for the most by any player.
Murray, who won the 2012 U.S. Open, had trouble in each of the first two sets, but eventually the second seed became more patient during baseline exchanges and took control for a 7-6 (7-4), 5-7, 6-2, 6-3 victory over unseeded Paolo Lorenzi.
“So I’ll be working on perfection”, Williams said after the win. “Looking at it now, I can say that it definitely feels like a Wonder Woman or a Superwoman, and like a really powerful, strong character that is strong but yet isn’t afraid to be soft at the same time”.
On Sunday, there will be the first matches of the fourth round, featuring the top-half of men’s singles and the bottom half of women’s singles.
She could meet her sister Venus in the semi-finals, after the 36-year-old moved within two wins of a possible showdown by beating German Laura Siegemund 6-1, 6-2 to reach the fourth round.
Polish fourth seed Agnieszka Radwanska reached the US Open last 16 for the fifth time with a 6-2, 6-3 win over France’s Caroline Garcia. Konta, who had fainted in her match against Tsvetana Pironkova on Wednesday, shared in a press conference that she has been doing well. “I made inquiries to the heart and everything is ideal”.
A victory by Williams in the next round could set up a quarterfinal match against No. 5 seed Simona Halep, a 6-1, 2-6, 6-4 victor over No. 31 seed Timea Babos. “She played unbelievable second and third set”.
Andy Murray and Stan Wawrinka booked their spots in the fourth round of the US Open, but it was not quite easy sailing for the latter.
Del Potro’s resurgence continued with a 7-6 (7-3), 6-2, 6-3 victory over No. 11 David Ferrer.
Williams was not quite at her ideal best, however, squandering three break points in the opener before getting the job done, with two breaks of serve putting her a set to the good.
Now safely into the round of 16, Williams will be a heavy favorite when she faces world No. 52 Yaroslava Shvedova, who beat Zhang Shuai, 6-2, 7-5, on Saturday.
As for Pliskova, the elder Williams said: “We play kind of a similar game”.
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Nishikori, who has dropped a set in each of his matches so far, will take on Ivo Karlovic for a quarter-final berth after the towering Croatian defeated 19-year-old American Jared Donaldson 6-4, 7-6 (7/3), 6-3. Obviously I don’t feel like I’m Serena out there yet. “She’s unsafe”, Mouratoglou said about Shvedova.
