The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Advantage Serena
Serena Williams, left, embraces her sister Venus Williams after their match during the third round of the U.S. Open Friday in New York. Serena Williams won 6-1, 6-2.
NEW YORK — Serena Williams equaled her mostlopsided victory ever in 30 professional meetings with sister Venus, beating her 6-1, 6-2 on Friday night in the third round of the U.S. Open.
Serena shook off an early ankle injury to win seven straight games and seize control in perhaps her most dominant performance since giving birth to her a daughter a year ago Saturday.
The sisters’ earliest meeting in a Grand Slam tournament in 20 years was over early, with Venus unable to do anything to blunt Serena’s power, even after the crowd tried desperately to get behind her early in the second set.
They hadn’t played this early in a Grand Slam since Venus won in the second round of the 1998 Australian Open in their first meeting as pros, and only once over the next two decades had either won so decisively, when Serena won by the same score in a semifinal victory in Charleston, South Carolina, in 2013.
Earlier, Rafael Nadal overcame a shaky start and used his customary relentless style to wear down No. 27 seed Karen Khachanov physically and mentally, eventually getting to the fourth round with an entertaining and back-and-forth 5-7, 7-5, 7-6 (7), 7-6 (3) victory that took 4 hours, 23 minutes.
“I escaped a very tough situation,” Nadal said, “so it’s a great thing.”
The man he beat in last year’s final at Flushing Meadows, No. 5 Kevin Anderson, got through his own tough test against an up-and-coming opponent, edging No. 28 Denis Shapovalov 3-6, 6-4, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4.
After Nadal ceded the opening set, he had a trainer put tape under his right knee, which has caused problems off-and-on for the Spaniard over the years. Nadal later got more wrapping there during a 10minute break at 5-all in the second set while the retractable roof at Arthur Ashe Stadium was shut because of light rain.
Just prior to the delay, Khachanov had served for that set at 5-4, and three times was two points away from taking it. But he couldn’t get closer than that. Nadal broke for 5-all and, after the delay, broke again to even it at a set apiece, aided by two double-faults from Khachanov. When Nadal earned that set with a passing shot that drew an errant volley, he crouched and yelled. Folks sitting in his guest box rose. A chunk of the crowd gave a standing ovation. Khachanov swatted a ball in disgust.
Nadal said the brief break was just what he needed.
“I just trying to calm myself for a moment. He was playing well,” Nadal said. “But for me, the most important thing is have the right tempo when I am playing. For some moments I felt things were going too fast in my mind. I didn’t take the time to do the right steps, to go to the ball with the right decision, with the right determination, with the right timing.”
The end of the third set was similar: Khachanov twice was two points from owning it and couldn’t get across the line, helping Nadal with three doublefaults in the tiebreaker. And while Nadal kept letting set points slip away, four in all, he made No. 5 count, and how. It was a quintessential Nadal point, too: a 40-stroke exchange — yes, 40! — that featured so much defense from Nadal until Khachanov netted a backhand, then tossed his racket on the sideline.
“I needed that set, of course,” Nadal said.
Earlier, 2017 champion Sloane Stephens betrayed a lot more emotion on that court than she usually shows anywhere, all of the double fist pumps making perfectly clear just how tight and tense things had been during her 6-3, 6-4 win against two-time runner-up Victoria Azarenka.
Stephens, the No. 3 seed, grabbed the last three games after returning from a brief break while the Ashe roof was shut (it was then reopened before Nadal vs. Khachanov).
Stephens went from up a set and 3-1 in the second to down 4-3 when Azarenka took three games in a row. That’s when rain came.
“The man upstairs,” Stephens said, “was looking out for me.”