1 of 11 | Roger Federer of Switzerland serves to Daniel Evans of the United Kingdom in the third round Friday in Arthur Ashe Stadium at the 2019 US Open Tennis Championships at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. Photo by John Angelillo/UPI |
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Aug. 30 (UPI) -- Serena Williams moved into the 2019 U.S. Open's round of 16 with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Karolina Muchova on Friday at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing, N.Y.
Williams grabbed control midway through the match with a seven-game run as she advanced to the fourth round at the U.S. Open for the 18th time in her career. She will play 22nd-seeded Petra Martic of Croatia, who upset No. 12 seed Anastasija Sevastova on Friday, for a spot in the quarterfinals.
The No. 8-seeded Williams had issues with her serve, double-faulting seven times against Muchova. Despite her uneven serve, she converted 5-of-9 break points and went from trailing 3-2 at the beginning to taking the opening set and a 3-0 lead in the second.
Williams is searching for a seventh title at Flushing Meadows and a record-tying 24th Grand Slam singles trophy.
In other matches from the women's draw, second-seeded Ashleigh Barty moved on to the round of 16 with a 7-5, 6-3 win over No. 30 seed Maria Sakkari.
Barty, the current French Open champion, took advantage of 39 unforced errors from Sakkari to reach the final 16 at the U.S. Open for the second consecutive year. She will take on No. 18 Qiang Wang in the next round.
No. 3 seed Karolina Pliskova downed Ons Jabeur 6-1, 4-6, 6-4 to advance. Johanna Konta, the tournament's No. 16 seed, beat No. 33 Zhang Shuai in straight sets. Fifth-seeded Elina Svitolina dominated No. 32 Dayana Yastremska 6-2, 6-0.
In men's action at the U.S. Open, No. 3 seed Roger Federer won in straight sets for the first time in this year's tournament to climb into the round of 16.
Federer, 38, knocked off Daniel Evans 6-2, 6-2, 6-1. He will make his 18th appearance in the fourth round at the U.S. Open.
No. 7 seed Kei Nishikori, a 2014 finalist at the U.S. Open, lost to unseeded Alex De Minaur 6-2, 6-4, 2-6, 6-3 in the third round. He joined No. 4 Dominic Thiem, No. 8 Stefanos Tsitsipas, No. 9 Karen Khachanov and No. 10 Roberto Bautista Agut as top-seeded players to suffer upset losses in the early stages of the event.
No. 15 seed David Goffin edged Pablo Carreno Busta 7-6, 7-6, 7-5 and 23rd-seeded Stan Wawrinka defeated Paolo Lorenzi 6-4, 7-6, 7-6.
