Venus closer to Serena matchup

Older Williams tops No. 12 seed Bencic, reaches 4th round.

All in one fell swoop Friday, Venus Williams eliminated one of the only two women who beat her younger sister this season and moved closer to a possible U.S. Open quarterfinal showdown against Serena.

Gathering herself after a mid-match dip, Venus reeled off the last five games and beat 12th-seeded Belinda Bencic of Switzerland 6-3, 6-4 to reach the fourth round at Flushing Meadows for the first time since 2010.

Did Venus get any family advice before facing Bencic, who defeated Serena last month en route to the title at a hard-court event in Toronto?

“Yes, but that’s between us,” Venus said, breaking into a wide smile. “I think it worked.”

At 35, Venus is the oldest woman in the field. At 18, Bencic was the youngest to make it to the third round. She is mentored by Martina Hingis, who was sitting in the front row of her guest box in Arthur Ashe Stadium on a cloudy, breezy afternoon.

Venus trailed 4-1 in the second set before grabbing the last five games against a player she called “tenacious.”

Eugenie Bouchard, 2014 Wimbledon runnerup, got past 2014 Australian Open runner-up Dominika Cibulkova 7-6 (9), 4-6, 6-3, giving the Canadian her first threematch winning streak since January.

On the men’s side, No. 1 Novak Djokovic and defending champion Marin Cilic moved into the fourth round.

Djokovic was broken for the first time in the tournament — twice, actually — but beat No. 25 Andreas Seppi of Italy 6-3, 7-5, 7-5. Cilic put in a lot more work to edge Mikhail Kukushkin of Kazakhstan 6-7 (5), 7-6 (1), 6-3, 6-7 (3), 6-1.

Djokovic will play No. 23 Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain, whose opponent, No. 14 David Goffin of Belgium, became the 13th man to stop playing because of injury or illness.

Djokovic improved to 11-0 against Seppi, who stunned Roger Federer at the Australian Open.

Looking ahead, Venus Williams could face Serena early next week. Venus will next face 19-year-old Anett Kontaveit of Estonia, a qualifier ranked 152nd who beat Madison Brengle of the United States 6-2, 3-6, 6-0.

In a match late Thursday night, 2014 U.S. Open runner-up Caroline Wozniacki, the No. 4 seed, lost to 149th-ranked Petra Cetkovska of the Czech Republic 6-4, 5-7, 7-6 (1).