Serena Williams easily won her eagerly awaited clash with Sloane Stephens at the US Open on Sunday as normal service resumed at the last Grand Slam of year.
Williams was one of four US Open champions that won on Sunday, sending a clear message to the next generation of rising stars that they will have to wait their turn.
The 31-year-old avenged her loss to Stephens at the Australian Open with an emphatic 6-4, 6-1 victory to keep her title defense on course.
Photo: Reuters
“It’s definitely difficult, especially playing people that you like, that you always want to see do well,” Williams said. “You have to go out there and kind of put that to the side and realize, I want to do well myself and take every point as it comes.”
Defending men’s champion Andy Murray and world No. 1 Novak Djokovic also won in straight sets, while 2001 winner Lleyton Hewitt turned back the clock to reach the fourth round for the first time since 2006.
Murray, playing in the middle of a hot and steamy day, needed less than two hours to see off Germany’s Florian Mayer 7-6 (7/2), 6-2, 6-2 and advance to the fourth round.
Djokovic was even more ruthless in his center court night match against Portugal’s Joao Sousa, cruising to a 6-0, 6-2, 6-2 win, while 32-year-old Hewitt wore down Russia’s Evgeny Donskoy 6-3, 7-6 (7/5), 3-6, 6-1.
“Obviously when you’ve been to the top you want to keep playing,” said Hewitt, who stunned sixth seed Juan Martin del Potro in the previous round. “The reason you’re playing is for the majors, and for me, Davis Cup as well. That’s the reason I’m still playing.”
The biggest surprise on a day when most results went as expected was the defeat of women’s third seed Agnieszka Radwanska.
The Pole, who had made it to the quarter-finals or better at the three other Grand Slams this year, crumbled to a 6-4, 6-4 defeat by Russia’s Ekaterina Makarova after she had won the first four games of the match.
Makarova is to play China’s Li Na after Asia’s top player accounted for Jelena Jankovic 6-3, 6-0.
Stephens beat Williams in January in the quarter-finals at Melbourne Park to enhance her standing as a future leader of US women’s tennis, but was completely outgunned by a woman bidding to become the oldest to win the US Open since tennis turned professional in 1968.
“Obviously she’s No. 1 in the world for a reason,” said Stephens, 11 years younger than Williams. “I thought she played really well. All in all I thought I competed well and played well. That’s all you can do, really.”
Williams is to play Carla Suarez Navarro in the quarter-finals, the Spaniard having upset Germany’s eighth-seed Angelique Kerber 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7/3).
Murray struggled to impose himself on Mayer in the opening set, but once he adapted to the humidity and gusting winds it was all smooth sailing.
“It was tough conditions. It was very, very humid,” Murray said. “I was struggling breathing for most of the match.”
Murray’s opponent in the fourth round is scheduled to be Uzbekistan’s Denis Istomin, who beat Italy’s Andreas Seppi 6-3, 6-4, 2-6, 3-6, 6-1, with Tomas Berdych looming in the quarter-finals.
Berdych, seeded fifth, made the semi-finals at last year’s US Open and has been in great form at Flushing Meadows this week, reaching the last 16 without dropping a set.
The Czech dispatched Julien Benneteau of France 6-0, 6-3, 6-2 to set up a fourth-round clash with Switzerland’s Stanislas Wawrinka, who defeated Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus 6-3, 6-2, 6-7 (1/7), 7-6 (9/7).
Djokovic has yet to lose a set in the tournament and the 26-year-old was never in any danger against the 95th-ranked Sousa.
The 2011 US Open champion faced just two break points on his own serve as he raced to victory in 100 minutes.
“Just doing my job, win in straight sets and spend as less time on court as possible,” he said.
The Serb’s next opponent is Marcel Granollers, one of four Spaniards in the men’s last-16, who knocked the last US men’s player out when he edged wild card Tim Smyczek 6-4, 4-6, 0-6, 6-3, 7-5.
Bob and Mike Bryan did give the US’ men some cheer when they stayed on course to achieve a rare calendar-year Grand Slam in doubles after coming back to beat Canadians Daniel Nestor and Vasek Pospisil 6-7 (1/7), 7-5, 6-2.
The Bryan brothers have already won each of the last four Grand Slam doubles titles, starting with last year’s US Open, but are bidding to claim all four in the same calendar year.
The only men to have achieved the feat were the Australian pair of Ken McGregor and Frank Sedgman in 1951.
IN-HOUSE BUSINESS: LA Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said that the reason for the team’s poor form was not due to Paul, but the player was not a good fit for them Chris Paul’s return stint with the Los Angeles Clippers has come to an abrupt and stunning end, with the franchise parting ways with one of its greatest players in a late-night meeting on Wednesday that adds another layer of drama to the team’s terrible start this season. The news was delivered in a meeting in Atlanta, Georgia, that ended at about 2am, Clippers basketball operations president Lawrence Frank said. Frank said he made the decision to sever ties with Paul on Sunday then told the franchise’s career assist leader that he needed to see him on Tuesday in Atlanta. Frank did not confirm
Kylian Mbappe on Wednesday scored twice and had an assist as Real Madrid beat Athletic Bilbao 3-0 to end a three-match winless streak in La Liga. Eduardo Camavinga also found the net for Madrid as they moved back within one point of Barcelona, who beat Atletico Madrid 3-1 on Tuesday. Both 19th-round matches were moved forward because Real Madrid, Barcelona, Athletic Club and Atletico Madrid are to play in the Supercopa de Espana semi-finals in Saudi Arabia next month. Real Madrid were coming off league draws against Girona, Elche and Rayo Vallecano. It was their second win in their past six matches in
SEESAW CONTEST: The Pistons remain top of the Eastern Conference after battling to a win over the Hawks in a game that saw the lead change 27 times The Phoenix Suns on Monday shrugged off an injury to Devin Booker to end the Los Angeles Lakers’ seven-game winning streak with an emphatic 125-108 victory on the road. Booker exited in the first quarter, but the loss of the star point guard did little to halt the flow of Phoenix points over the remainder of the game. Dillon Brooks led the Phoenix scoring with 33 points, while Collin Gillespie added 28 — including eight three-pointers — as the Suns romped to victory. The Lakers were left ruing a colossal 22 turnovers — at a cost of 32 Suns points — on a
PINA BRACE: Claudia Pina scored in the 61st and 74th minutes, while Vicky Lopez added one as Spain notched their third victory in a final in the past four tournaments Claudia Pina scored twice and Germany crumbled on Tuesday as Spain retained the UEFA Women’s Nations League title with a 3-0 victory in the final’s second leg. Vicky Lopez also scored after Pina finally broke the deadlock in the 61st minute with Germany stubbornly hanging on as Spain had done in the first leg, a 0-0 draw in Kaiserslautern on Friday. Spain were without three-time Ballon d’Or winner Aitana Bonmati, who broke her leg in training on Sunday. Lopez took Bonmati’s place and Spain dominated from the start. Esther Gonzalez swept the ball just past the post and Mariona Caldentey forced a save
RSS