Serena Williams routs sister Venus 6-1, 6-2 in their U.S. Open match.
Top-ranked Nadal escapes repeatedly against Khachanov
NEW YORK — Serena Williams equaled her most-lopsided victory 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 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.
“It’s not easy,” Serena said, despite how easy it looked in a match that lasted 72 minutes. “She's my best friend. She means the world to me. Every time she loses, I feel like I do. It’s not very easy, but it’s a tournament. We know there’s more to life than just playing each other and playing tennis.”
Serena to meet Kanepi
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. Serena won by the same score in a semifinal victory in Charleston, S.C., in 2013.
Serena, the No. 17 seed, will face Kaia Kanepi of Estonia, who knocked out top-ranked Simona Halep in the first round.
Serena, 36, leads the series 18-12 with her sister, 11-5 in Grand Slam tournaments. But this one wasn’t expected to be so easy, not with Serena working her way back into form after returning to the tour in the spring.
But this was the type of tennis that has brought her to 23 Grand Slam singles titles, the ability to pound balls all over the court and chase down the rare shots that looked like they might get past her.
“This was my best match since I returned,” Serena said. “I worked for it. I worked really hard these last three or four months. That’s life, you have to keep working hard no matter what ups or downs you have. That's what I've been doing.”
She pounded 10 aces to one for Venus, 38, the No. 16 seed who was perhaps a little drained after two tough matches to begin the tournament, including a threesetter against 2004 U.S. Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova in her opener.
Serena had an easier time in the first two rounds, though that was expected to change Friday under the lights in Arthur Ashe Stadium.
They had combined for eight titles in Flushing Meadows, six by Serena, and each had beaten the other in a U.S. Open final.
Defending U.S. Open champion Sloane Stephens grabbed the last three games after a brief break while the Arthur Ashe Stadium roof was shut because of a light rain and beat two-time runner-up Victoria Azarenka 6-3, 6-4 to reach the fourth round.
Stephens had gone from leading 3-1 to trailing 4-3 in the second set when drops fell and the decision was made to close the arena.
When Stephens ended the match with a cross-court forehand winner, she pumped both arms repeatedly. After shaking hands with Azarenka, Stephens again celebrated that way.
The No. 3 seed Stephens will face No. 15 Elise Mertens next.
On the men’s side, defending champion Rafael Nadal barely got through a real test in the third round of the U.S. Open, edging No. 27 seed Karen Khachanov 5-7, 7-5, 7-6 (7), 7-6 (3) in an entertaining, back-and-forth match that lasted four hours, 23 minutes.
Nadal kept getting pushed to the brink and kept coming up with the answers. He was two points away from falling into a two-set hole.
He was two points away from dropping the third set. He was one point from losing the fourth set and being pushed to a fifth.
Instead, the No. 1-ranked Nadal moved into the fourth round at Flushing Meadows for the 10th time in his past 11 appearances.
Nadal is bidding for his fourth U.S. Open championship and 18th Grand Slam title overall.
Anderson eliminates teen
And U.S. Open finalist Kevin Anderson survived a scare from 19-year-old Denis Shapovalov and won 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 to reach the fourth round.
Anderson lost to three-time U.S. Open champion Rafael Nadal in last year’s final. The 32-year-old South African proved he was no one-Slam wonder when he reached the Wimbledon final this year. He lost to Novak Djokovic.
Shapovalov had the crowd behind him under the closed roof of Louis Armstrong Stadium and seemed poised to break through with one of the biggest wins of his career.
Anderson held him off and played his best set in the fifth, to top the Canadian sensation.
And Dominic Thiem won another lengthy match to reach the fourth round.
The No. 9 seed beat American Taylor Fritz 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (5), 6-4 in a match that lasted three hours, 19 minutes.
Stan Wawrinka was eliminated by No. 25 seed Milos Raonic of Canada 7-6 (6), 6-4, 6-3. Wawrinka's nine-match winning streak in Flushing Meadows ended.