Williams needs just 44 minutes to overpower Qiang

NEW YORK » Serena Williams was not troubled one bit by the right ankle she rolled in her previous match. Didn’t get much resistance from her opponent, either.

Looking as dominant as can be, Williams moved just fine and powered her way into the U.S. Open semifinals by overwhelming 18thseeded Wang Qiang of China, 6-1, 6-0, in a mere 44 minutes Sept. 3 to move closer to a 24th Grand Slam singles trophy.

Williams had rolled her ankle during her fourthround match but never showed any signs that it was an issue.

“Physically, I’m feeling great,” Williams said, “and more than anything, I’m having fun every time I come out here.”

Why shouldn’t she? When she plays like this, it’s hard to imagine anyone else ending up with the championship Saturday.

Williams grabbed the first five games in about 15 minutes. Then, after dropping one game, Williams collected the next 11 points in a row and every remaining game.

Just one indication of how lopsided this was: Williams finished with 25 winners to zero for Wang, who was playing in her first major quarterfinal. One other: The total points were 50-15.

Williams collected her 100th match win at Flushing Meadows, where she is a six-time champion.

“From when I first started here ... I never thought that I would get to 100. Didn’t even cross my mind I would still be out here,” said Williams who turns 38 later this month. “But I love what I do.”

The American will face No. 5 seed Elina Svitolina of Ukraine for a berth in the final. Svitolina eliminated 16th-seeded Johanna Konta of Britain, 6-4, 6-4, earlier Tuesday.

“She’s had a great year, as well,” Williams said. “I feel like she wants to go one further this time, so I have to be able to come out again and play really well.”

With her boyfriend, Gael Monfils, watching in the stands, a day before he plays his quarterfinal, Svitolina got to the semifinals at a second consecutive major tournament after never having been that far before.

“Now,” Svitolina joked about Monfils, “he needs to step up his game.”

No. 13 Monfils of France takes on No. 24 Matteo Berrettini of Italy, and Rafael Nadal meets No. 20 Diego Schwartzman of Argentina on Wednesday, when the women’s quarterfinals will be No. 13 Belinda Bencic of Switzerland vs. No. 23 Donna Vekic of Croatia, and No. 15 Bianca Andreescu of Canada vs. No. 25 Elise Mertens of Belgium.

Tuesday night’s last match featured Roger Federer against Grigor Dimitrov, with the winner playing the man the U.S. Open crowds love to hate, Daniil Medvedev.

The No. 5-seeded Medvedev thought he might need to quit early in the first set of his quarterfinal after pulling a muscle in his upper left leg. His opponent, three-time major champion Stan Wawrinka, never believed Medvedev would stop. Wawrinka was right. And now Medvedev, the best player on the men’s tour on hard courts in recent weeks, is headed to his first Grand Slam semifinal.

Medvedev has drawn plenty of attention at Flushing Meadows for the way he sarcastically thanked booing crowds, trolling them by suggesting their venom was reason he kept winning. Now maybe folks will pay more attention to the 23-year-old Russian’s unusual brand of shape-shifting tennis, which carried him past Wawrinka, 7-6 (6), 6-3, 3-6, 6-1, despite 12 double-faults and a body that’s just short of breaking down.