S. Williams reaches Open quarterfinals

NEW YORK, Sept. 5 (UPI) -- Serena Williams continued her quest for a fourth U.S. Open title Monday with a victory over Serbia's Ana Ivanovic to reach the quarterfinals in New York.

The former world No. 1, who has the 28th seed at Flushing Meadows, defeated Ivanovic 6-3, 6-4 at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.

Ivanovic, also a former world No. 1, fought back from a 0-3 deficit in the first set, tying it 3-3, but then blew a break-point chance and lost the last three games of the set to Williams.

That opened the door for the American star to breeze through the second stanza and reach her ninth career U.S. Open quarterfinal while also stretching her winning streak to 16 matches.

Williams now goes on to face 20-year-old Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, who bounced former French Open champ Francesca Schiavone in a 5-7, 6-3, 6-4 upset at Arthur Ashe Stadium.

Pavlyuchenkova won in a miscue-filled match that included 16 service breaks and 21 double faults.