The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Konta denies her win was too easy
British number one Johanna Konta made short work of Zhang Shuai to reach the fourth round at the US Open.
The 16th seed equalled her best run at Flushing Meadows after a 6-2 6-3 victory.
Konta took just 54 minutes to dispatch Margarita Gasparyan in their rain-delayed secondround match on Thursday.
And the 28-year-old was in no mood to hang around again, beating Chinese 33rd seed Zhang in one hour and 12 minutes on the Grandstand court.
“They are never clean and straightforward matches, there’s always two players on court ,” she said.
“There was nothing easy about that match, I had to stay clear on what was happening in the match.
“I strongly believe in the process and progression and I’m constantly trying to grow and get better. I lost two first rounds before this tournament so I’m trying to keep things in perspective.”
Konta, ranked 16th in the world, will face Czech third seed Karolina Pliskova for a place in the quarter-finals. Pliskova overcame a mid-match blip to beat Tunisia’s Ons Jabeur 6-1 4-6 6-4.
Six-time champion Serena Williams is also safely through to the fourth round after a routine victory over Czech Karolina Muchova.
The American won 6-3 6-2 after converting five of nine break points against the Wimbledon quarter-finalist.
Williams was broken back midway through the second set but it was an otherwise flawless display.
Williams, who is seeking to equal Australian Margaret Court’s all-time record of 24 Grand Slam singles titles, will play Croatian 22nd seed Petra Martic in round four.
Martic, a French Open quarter-finalist, defeated Latvian 12th seed Anastasija Sevastova 6-4 6-3 on court 10.
Second seed Ashleigh Barty is also through after a 7-5 6-3 win over Greek 30th seed Maria Sakkari.
Australian French Open champion Barty will take on Chinese 18th seed Wang Qiang or France’s Fiona Ferro.