Serena turns it on to gut out win; Nadal advances
NEW YORK — Serena Williams’ yells of “Come on!” crescendoed along with the tension in a fourth-round U.S. Open match that began as a rout but became riveting.
When she ripped a backhand winner to claim the third set’s opening game Sunday, Williams let out her loudest shout of the day.
Williams reached the quarterfinals at Flushing Meadows for a 10th consecutive appearance — she wasn’t there last year because she gave birth to her daughter during the tournament — by picking her level up after a lull and using 18 aces to beat Kaia Kanepi 6-0, 4-6, 6-3.
“It wasn’t an easy match at all. She obviously knows how to play,” said Williams, a six-time U.S. Open champion who finished with more than twice as many winners as Kanepi, 47-22. “I was just happy to get through it.”
In men’s action, defending champion Rafael Nadal reached his fourth Grand Slam quarterfinal of the season, and 36th of his career, by getting past Nikoloz Basilashvili 6-3, 6-3, 6-7 (6), 6-4.
“Now is the moment to make the next step, step forward, play more aggressive,” said the topranked Nadal, who has won 26 of his past 27 matches. “I hope to be ready to make that happen.”
He gets two days’ rest before taking on No. 9 Dominic Thiem for a semifinal berth in what will be rematch of this year’s French Open final, which Nadal won in straight sets.
Thiem prevented a rematch of last year’s U.S. Open final by eliminating 2017 runner-up Kevin Anderson 7-5, 6-2, 7-6 (2).
Also advancing were John Isner, in five sets over Milos Raonic, and Juan Martin del Potro, a straight-sets winner over Borna Coric.
The Williams-Kanepi match was filled with big hitting by both women, along with all manner of shifts in momentum and quality of play. In the 18-minute shutout of the first set, Kanepi was tight and Williams was pretty much perfect, grabbing 24 of 30 points.
But after compiling 14 winners and only two unforced errors in that set, Williams began making mistakes, becoming less and less comfortable as Kanepi grew increasingly so. Kanepi is ranked only 44th, but she’s been a top-20 player in the past and has made it to Grand Slam quarterfinals a half-dozen times. Sure, that’s nothing compared to Williams’ 23 major titles, but it’s something. Plus, Kanepi eliminated No. 1 Simona Halep on Day 1 of this tournament.
In a blink, Williams had a match on her hands. Kanepi was matching Williams’ power with booming groundstrokes of her own. She was getting better reads on Williams’ serves. And the 36-year-old American began making more and more mistakes.
When Williams shanked a backhand return of a 103 mph serve, the match was a little more than an hour old, and it was all tied at a set apiece.
After that scream-inspiring hold to begin the final set, Williams broke right away to lead 2-0. She then faced a break point, but Kanepi wasted that chance by sending a backhand wide. From there, Williams smacked an ace at 118 mph, followed by a service winner at 113 mph to go up 3-0, and that essentially was that.
Next comes a quarterfinal against 2016 runnerup Karolina Pliskova, who beat Williams in the U.S. Open semifinals that year. Pliskova beat No. 18 Ashleigh Barty 6-4, 6-4.
The other quarterfinal on the top half of the draw will be defending champion Sloane Stephens against No. 19 Anastasija Sevastova in a rematch from 2017. Stephens beat No. 15 Elise Mertens 6-3, 6-3, while Sevastova defeated No. 7 Elina Svitolina 6-3, 1-6, 6-0.