The Hindu : Sport : Serena Williams enters quarterfinals

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Serena Williams enters quarterfinals

Federer passes the Isner test; Bhupathi-Zimonjic duo crashes out

— PHOTO: AP

BROOKS NO CHALLENGE: Serena Williams was too good for Marion Bartoli in the U.S. Open on Sunday.

NEW YORK: Take note, tennis fans: Serena Williams looks poised for another big run at a Grand Slam.

Williams posted her easiest victory yet at this U.S. Open, showing no ill effects from a lingering thumb injury and beating No. 10 Marion Bartoli 6-3, 6-4 on Sunday to reach the quarterfinals.

The No. 8-seeded Williams was much stronger and faster than Bartoli, and fittingly finished off the Frenchwoman with back-to-back aces.

Williams also had no problems with the chair umpire. In her last match, the two-time Open champion got reprimanded for reading from her pink notebook during the match.

Even though Williams is an eight-time major champion, there were doubts about her going into the final Slam of the season. She hurt her left thumb at Wimbledon and had not played since then, prompting some to wonder how effective she’d be in this tournament.

“A couple of weeks ago, I wasn’t even sure if I’d be able to come here,” she said.

Instead, she’s so far put on a repeat performance from the Australia Open. Hurt for much of 2006, she went into Melbourne unseeded, then reeled off a strong run to win it.

Williams will play the winner of the night match between No. 1 Justine Henin and No. 15 Dinara Safina. If it’s Henin, it would be their third consecutive major quarterfinal meeting.

Bartoli had a breakthrough at Wimbledon, finishing as the runner-up to Venus Williams, but has struggled to duplicate that success.

Physically overmatched, her best shot was to try to wear out Williams with steady, deliberate returns. Using a two-handed grip from both sides, Bartoli is known for her unusual training methods — her father likes to hit multi-coloured, multi-sized balls at her in practice to sharpen her focus.

Williams, however, hit the same kind of ball at Bartoli all match. As in, really hard.

She held a 32-10 edge in winners and her fastest serve was 124 mph to Bartoli’s 106. Williams also stayed in control, putting 81 per cent of her first serves in play.

Isner threat

World No. 1 Roger Federer answered the threat of the big-serving John Isner to join top challengers Andy Roddick, Nikolay Davydenko and James Blake in the fourth round on Saturday.

Federer, going for his 12th Grand Slam crown — and fourth US Open title in a row — could barely hang in against the early firepower of the 6-foot-9 wild card but came through with a 6-7(4), 6-2, 6-4, 6-2 victory to advance.

“I knew for him to serve five sets this way was almost impossible,” Federer said after Isner hit half his 18 aces in the first set. “It was unbelievable how he was serving. You hope he’s not going to keep serving aces.”

Federer’s precision and timing paid off as he went without an unforced error in the second an third set, broke to open the fourth set on a netcord winner and downed the 199th-ranked tour newcomer after two hours 15 minutes.

“You can’t really get ready for a match like this. It’s all in the mind and all in the moment,” Federer said. “You better be good on the day. That’s what I was today.”

“Four months ago, I was unranked,” Isner said. “To go from that to beating Roger Federer in a set is pretty cool.”

Federer, chasing Pete Sampras’s all-time Slam record of 14 titles, will face the 62nd-ranked Feliciano Lopez after the Spaniard outlasted US teen Donald Young 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(5), 7-5 in a battle of left-handers.

“I’m happy with my game. I’ve been serving well,” Federer said. “I am where I want to be. Absolutely.”

Roddick advances

Russian fourth seed Davydenko ousted Spanish 28th seed Nicolas Almagro 7-5, 6-0, 7-5, fifth seed Roddick downed Swede Thomas Johansson 6-3, 6-2, 6-0 and US sixth seed James Blake beat Austrian Stefan Koubek 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(5), 6-1.

Roddick, who could play Federer in a quarterfinal that would be a rematch of last year’s final, fired 19 aces without a double fault and blasted 41 winners with only 11 unforced errors to move on in 84 minutes.

“I felt good,” Roddick said. “I wanted to go out and hit the ball and be aggressive.”

Next for Roddick will be Czech ninth seed Tomas Berdych, who ousted Spain’s Fernando Verdasco 7-6(2), 6-1, 7-6(3). They have split two meetings, Roddick winning a Davis Cup tie this year but losing last year at Madrid.

Mixed luck

Mahesh Bhupathi and his Serbian partner Nenad Zimonjic, the sixth seeds, crashed out of the men’s doubles on Saturday, losing 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 to Americans Sam Querrey and Robert Kendrick.

He had better luck in the mixed doubles, partnering Sania Mirza, advancing to the third round with a 7-6(4), 3-6, 10-2 win over Tatiana Golovin and Bob Bryan.

Leander Paes and Meghann Shaughnessy were more impressive in their second round match, upsetting the fifth-seeded Czech pair of Martin Damm and Kveta Peschke 7-5, 6-3. — Agencies

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