Serena Williams hits 18 aces in US Open win; Isner into quarterfinals
Serena Williams’ yells of “Come on!” crescendoed right along with the tension in a fourth-round US Open match that began as a rout and suddenly became riveting.
When she ripped a backhand winner to claim the third set’s opening game Sunday, Williams let out her loudest shout of the day, leaning forward and rocking both arms. This turned into a test, and she passed it.
Williams reached the quarterfinals at Flushing Meadows for a 10th consecutive appearance - she wasn’t there last year because she gave birth to her daughter during the tournament - by picking her level up after a lull and using 18 aces to beat Kaia Kanepi of Estonia 6-0, 4-6, 6-3.
This match was filled with big hitting by both women, along with all manner of shifts in momentum and quality of play. In the 18-minute shutout of the first set, Kanepi’s strokes were off and Williams’ were pretty much perfect as she grabbed 24 of 30 points.
But after compiling 14 winners and only two unforced errors in that set, Williams began making mistakes, becoming less and less comfortable as Kanepi grew increasingly so. Kanepi is ranked only 44th, but she’s been a top-20 player in the past and has made it to Grand Slam quarterfinals a halfdozen times. Sure, that’s nothing compared to Williams’ 23 major titles, but it’s something. Plus, it’s worth remembering this: Kanepi eliminated No. 1 Simona Halep on Day 1 of this tournament.
In a blink, Williams had a match on her hands. Kanepi was matching Williams’ power with booming groundstrokes of her own. She was getting better reads on Williams’ serves. And Williams began making more and more mistakes.
After that scream-inspiring hold to begin the final set, Williams broke right away to lead 2-0. She then faced a break point, but Kanepi wasted that chance by sending a backhand wide. From there, Williams smacked an ace at 118 mph, followed by a service winner at 113 mph to go up 3-0, and that essentially was that.
Kanepi’s take on Wiliams’ serve? “Unreturnable,” she called it.
Next for the 36-year-old American comes a quarterfinal against 2016 runner-up Karolina Pliskova, who beat Williams in the US Open semifinals that year.
The other quarterfinal on the top half of the draw will be defending champion Sloane Stephens of the US against No. 19 Anastasija Sevastova of Latvia in a rematch from the same round last year.
The defending men’s champion Rafael Nadal reached his fourth Grand Slam quarterfinal of the season, and 36th of his career, by getting past Nikoloz Basilashvili 6-3, 6-3, 6-7 (6), 6-4, while No. 11 John Isner of the U.S. made it that far at Flushing Meadows for the first time since 2011. Isner defeated No. 25 Milos Raonic of Canada 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 6-2 and now faces 2009 champion Juan Martin del Potro who pounded 18 forehand winners in a 6-4, 6-3, 6-1 victory over No. 20 Borna Coric and hasn’t dropped a set through four matches.
Nadal now takes on No. 9 Dominic Thiem for a semifinal berth in what will be a rematch of this year’s French Open final, which Nadal won in straight sets.
Thiem prevented a rematch of last year’s US Open final by eliminating 2017 runner-up and No. 5 seed Kevin Anderson 7-5, 6-2, 7-6 (2).
This will be Thiem’s first quarterfinal at a major other than the French Open - and his first match against Nadal on a surface other than red clay.
Kei Nishikori is into the quarterfinals of his return to the US Open.
The 2014 runner-up in Flushing Meadows beat Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-3, 6-2, 7-5 to reach the final eight in his second straight Grand Slam tournament.
Nishikori missed the US Open last year because of a right wrist injury. The No. 21 seed from Japan returned to the tour early this year, building his confidence back with a victory in a Challenger Tour event, then reached the final in Monte Carlo and the quarterfinals at Wimbledon, where he lost to eventual champion Novak Djokovic.
He will next face either No. 7 seed Marin Cilic — who beat him in the 2014 final — or 10th-seeded David Goffin.
Kohlschreiber was denied again in his fifth attempt to win a fourth-round match at the US Open. The German reached his lone Grand Slam quarterfinal at Wimbledon in 2012.
Madison Keys returned to the US Open quarterfinals with a 6-1, 6-3 victory over No. 35 seed Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia.
Keys was an Open finalist a year ago and lost to Sloane Stephens. She lost to Stephens again this year in the French Open semis.
The 14th-seeded Keys will play the winner of the Carla Suarez Navarro vs. Maria Sharapova match in the night session at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Keys has reached at least the quarterfinals in three of the four Grand Slams this year. She had six aces and no double faults yesterday in perhaps her best performance of the tournament.