Top-seeded Serena Williams continued her dominance through the first week of the U.S. Open and added a piece of history to her name by eliminating Sweden’s Johanna Larsson 6-2, 6-1 in her third-round match at NY on Saturday.
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“It was a really good match for me because she played a different type of game”, Serena added.
Williams, with her trademark big hitting, jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the opening set.
“So far, so good”, remained Williams’ refrain in regards to her shoulder, which didn’t appear to trouble her in the one hour she needed to subdue Larsson. I was really excited to do that. I can fit in my clothes, I feel good.
With many matches affected by rain on Thursday, the Arthur Ashe court, with its new closeable roof played host to the Williams sister.
But she wilted under the raw power of Williams, who forced her into 32 errors and was gifted with 26 unforced miscues in the 78-minute match.
Women’s fourth seed Agnieszka Radwanska advanced easily, dispatching France’s Caroline Garcia 6-2, 6-3 to set up a meeting with Croatian Ana Konjuh, a 6-3, 3-6, 6-2 victor over American Varvara Lepchenko. Serena not only surpassed Navratilova but she also now matches the Roger Federer’s tally of 307.
Halep advanced to the round of 16 but had to rally from 3-1 down in the third set to get past 31st-seeded Timea Babos of Hungaria 6-1, 2-6, 6-4.
“Williams will now face Johanna Larsson of Sweden for a place in the last 16 and she believes she will have to play much better than she did during her second-round triumph”.
“It definitely feels solid”, Williams said of her shoulder.
After an impressive first round win over Lukas Rosol, Murray, the favourite for the title in NY this year, saw off the challenge of Spain’s Marcel Granollers 6-4, 6-1, 6-4, despite struggling considerably to control his serves under the Arthur Ashe Stadium roof, as the rain came down.
It was at Flushing Meadows where Williams won her first grand slam in 1999 and 17 years later it is where she could achieve two more career landmarks if she can reach the winner’s circle again on September 10.
A third British man, Dan Evans, came within a point of also making the fourth round but failed to complete what would have been a significant upset, fading in a 4-6, 6-3, 6-7 (6), 7-6 (8), 6-2 loss to No. 3 Stan Wawrinka. “I have been being moving a lot”.
Sixth seed Venus Williams, whose seven Grand Slam titles include US Open crowns in 2000 and 2001, opens the night session on Ashe against 26th-seeded Laura Siegemund.
“I had to stop rushing”, said Murray, who arrived at the year s final Grand Slam off victories at Wimbledon and the Rio Olympics and may have expected less from Lorenzi, the 34-year-old who only won a first ATP title in July.
In the fourth round, Serena, the top seed in this tournament and world number on, will face Yaroslava Shvedova of Kazakhstan and Venus will face Karolina Pliskova of Czech Republic.
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Halep, whose best Grand Slam result was a run to the French Open final in 2014, next takes on 11th-seeded Carla Suarez Navarro for a spot in the quarterfinals.
