Serena Williams booked a place in the quarter-finals of the US Open yesterday with a hard-fought, three-set win over 15th seed Maria Sakkari.
Williams required 2hr 28min to defeat the 25-year-old Greek player 6-3, 6-7 (6), 6-3 inside an empty Arthur Ashe Stadium at Flushing Meadows.
“I just was fighting. She was doing so well, she was being so aggressive and I knew that I needed to do the same thing,” said Williams.
The match swung in different directions, with Williams saving three break points in game five of the first set before breaking Sakkari to power to a first-set win.
In set two, Sakkari took a 4-0 lead in the tie-break before Williams hauled it back to 6-6.
And in the deciding set Williams had to break Sakkari’s serve twice to come back from 2-0 down.
Little separated the two players throughout the lengthy contest, with Williams notching 107 total points to Sakkari’s 99.
Williams won 72 percent of points off her first serve while Sakkari won 73 percent. Sakkari also outdid Williams on aces, by 13 to 12.
It was when Williams forced Sakkari onto her second serve that the American, enjoyed success.
She won 59 percent of second serve points compared to just 48 percent for the Greek.
Sakkari had dumped Williams out of the Western & Southern Open, a US Open tuneup, in three sets in New York last month.
This match looked to be following a similar pattern of Williams winning the first set before losing the second on a tie-break. 
Williams said she had to overcome thoughts of that loss to grow in strength in the third set, rather than collapse as she did in their last meeting.
“Of course I thought about it but ever so little because it’s a completely different match and it was a completely different scenario and completely different moment,” Williams explained.
The win marked Williams’ 100th win on the famous Ashe court and set up her 53rd quarter-final appearance at a tennis major.
Williams is seeking a 24th Slam that would equal Margaret Court’s record for the most women’s Grand Slam singles titles.
It has been more than three years since Williams won her 23rd Grand Slam title at the 2017 Australian Open — when she was already pregnant with daughter Olympia.
The 38-year-old has come close since, reaching four major finals only to come away empty handed.
A tournament victory at the weekend would also see her break away from Chris Evert, on six titles, as the most decorated US Open champion of the women’s game in the modern era.


De Minaur beats Pospisil
In the men’s draw, Australian young gun Alex de Minaur tamed Canada’s Vasek Pospisil 7-6 (6), 6-3, 6-2 at the US Open yesterday to ease into his first Grand Slam quarter-final.
The first Australian to reach the men’s last eight at Flushing Meadows since John Millman in 2018, the 21st seed now awaits the winner of second-seeded Austrian Dominic Thiem and Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime.
When the US Open started neither promising 21-year-old De Minaur nor 30-year-old Pospisil, who grabbed more attention in recent weeks as Novak Djokovic’s sidekick in starting a new players association, would have been tipped as a major winner.
But with Djokovic disqualified on Sunday after striking a line judge in the throat with a ball, Roger Federer and Rafa Nadal not at Flushing Meadows and Andy Murray suffering an early exit, the chances of de Minaur winning the title have grown.
With the stakes a little higher, the opening set unfolded like the first round of a prize fight with both players probing for openings and neither managing a single break chance.
In the tiebreak it was Pospisil who had looked poised to land the first blow by going up 6-2, but De Minaur swept the next six points to grab a 1-0 lead.
“That first set was crucial,” said De Minaur. “I think it was just a couple of things going his way and then my way.
“I went down 6-2 but I don’t think I played a bad tiebreak I was just unlucky here and there.
“I just tried to stay calm, do my thing.”
After that effort the 94th ranked Canadian could only muster token resistance, with De Minaur securing an early break in the second and third sets and never allowing Pospisil a chance to get back into the match.




Osaka, Shapovalov reach last eight

Naomi Osaka stood firm after a parade of champions exited the US Open on Sunday, blasting her way into the quarter-finals with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Anett Kontaveit.
On a dramatic day seven, three-times champion Novak Djokovic was disqualified from the men’s draw for hitting a ball into a line judge’s throat and 2016 women’s champion Angelique Kerber was dumped out by American Jennifer Brady.
But 2018 winner Osaka restored order in the final match at Arthur Ashe Stadium with an impressive display of power and patience against the giant-killing Estonian.
After whipping through the first set in 28 minutes, frustrations grew for Osaka as the two-time Grand Slam champion failed to convert five match points and eight out of nine break points in the second set.
Aware that Djokovic had been sent packing after losing his cool mid-match against Pablo Carreno Busta, Osaka was mindful of keeping her emotions in check.
“I didn’t really see what happened live (with Djokovic). I was sleeping because I knew I was going to play a very late match but yeah I saw it afterwards, the aftermath,” she said in an on-court interview.
“For me, that’s definitely like a warning to never do that.”
Osaka’s left thigh was heavily strapped as she continues to manage a hamstring injury but the 22-year-old moved superbly against Kontaveit to set up a clash against unseeded American Shelby Rogers.
World number 93 Rogers was courage personified as she saved four match points before knocking out twice Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova 7-6 (5), 3-6, 7-6 (6).
Osaka has a 3-0 losing record to Rogers, who defeated Serena Williams last month in Lexington, but their last match came in 2017 at Charleston, when the Japanese number one was barely on the radar.
“I don’t know, it feels like such a long time ago. I have to definitely watch a couple more matches of hers,” Osaka said of Rogers.
“Yeah, I have Alzheimer’s,” she joked, after her match finished post-midnight. “I had a hard time remembering how to play Anett today. I don’t remember.”


Shapovalov in quarters after Goffin win
Denis Shapovalov regrouped after losing a terrible first set tie-break to beat David Goffin 6-7 (0), 6-3, 6-4, 6-3 on Sunday and become the first Canadian man to reach the US Open quarter-finals in the Open era.
Shapovalov will next face Carreno Busta in the quarter-finals.
It will be Shapovalov’s first Grand Slam quarter-final.
“It’s pretty crazy how far I’ve come,” said Shapovalov. “Today was an extremely tough match, I had to play every single point against him and match his stability, his calmness.”
Goffin made a strong start to the match then ran away with the first set tie-break 7-0 and Shapovalov said he used the time between sets to regroup.
The Canadian rallied in the second set behind a powerful serve and strong forehand, and the momentum swung in his favour when he broke for the first time in the fourth game.
The 12th seed took what opportunities came his way in the third set and fought off Goffin’s only break opportunity in the eighth game with his 11th ace.
He raced to a 4-1 lead in the fourth set but surprisingly failed to serve out while leading 5-2 as Goffin got his first break of the match.
However, Shapovalov settled down and sealed the win on his third match point to set up the clash with Carreno Busta, who beat him in the fourth round at Flushing Meadows in 2017.
Elsewhere, fifth seed Zverev bulldozed Spain’s unseeded Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 6-2, 6-2, 6-1, while Croatia’s Borna Coric, seeded 27th, too reached his maiden Grand Slam quarter-finals with a 7-5, 6-1, 6-3 win over Australian Jordan Thompson.


RESULTS
 Men’s singles (Round 4)
* 20-Pablo Carreno-Busta (ESP) bt 1-Novak Djokovic (SRB) 6-5 default
* 12-Denis Shapovalov (CAN) bt 7-David Goffin (BEL) 6-7 (0), 6-3, 6-4, 6-3
* 27-Borna Coric (CRO) bt Jordan Thompson (AUS) 7-5, 6-1, 6-3
* 5-Alexander Zverev (GER) bt Alejandro Davidovich (ESP) 6-2, 6-2, 6-1
Women’s singles (Round 4)
* 28-Jennifer Brady (USA) bt 17-Angelique Kerber (GER) 6-1, 6-4
* 23-Yulia Putintseva (KAZ) bt 8-Petra Martic (CRO) 6-3, 2-6, 6-4
* 4-Naomi Osaka (JPN) bt 14-Anett Kontaveit (EST) 6-3, 6-4
* Shelby Rogers (USA) bt 6-Petra Kvitova (CZE) 7-6 (5), 3-6, 7-6 (6)