Serena, Federer advance, Barty crashes out of US Open

Six-time US Open winner Serena Williams advanced to the quarterfinals of the 2019 tournament with a 6-3, 6-4 win here Sunday over Croatia’s Petra Martic.

The American, who is ranked 8th in the world, prevailed over the No. 22 Martic in 90 minutes.

After losing the first set in her opening match against Caty McNally Williams has dropped no more than four games in a set over the course of the following three contests.

The only surprise of the match came in the fifth game of the second set, when Williams, 37, injured her ankle in a fall and required medical attention.

On the men’s side, Swiss star Roger Federer cruised to a 6-2, 6-2, 6-0 win over Belgium’s David Goffin to claim a berth in the quarterfinals.

“I’ve got to say that David didn’t have his best day. I know he was struggling,” Federer said. “When I was up, all of a sudden, a break, I felt like he was starting not to play the same way anymore or like I’d known him from previous times.”

Federer, the No. 3 seed, needed just 79 minutes to knock off Goffin, who was seeded 15th at the year’s last Grand Slam event.

The 38-year-old Federer, winner of a record 20 Grand Slam singles titles, now has a 9-1 career record against Goffin.

“I’m very happy with my level of play,” Federer said following the match at Arthur Ashe Stadium in Flushing Meadows.

Goffin managed to break Federer in his second service game, but things unraveled after that for the Belgian.

Federer, a five-time US Open champion, won nine straight games to close out the match and advance to the quarterfinals, where he will face the winner of the match between Bulgaria’s Grigor Dimitrov and Australia’s Alex de Minaur.

Earlier Sunday, Australia’s Ashleigh Barty , the No. 2 seed and French Open Champion, was beaten by China’s Wang Qiang 6-2, 6-4.

The Chinese player, who will be playing in her first Grand Slam quarterfinal, needed one hour and 20 minutes to beat Barty.

“I think I’m really focused on the court today,” Wang said. “I really enjoyed the way I played ... I tried to play more patient (than in Zhuhai) today.”

Barty beat Wang twice in 2018 - in the Strasbourg quarterfinals and the final in Zhuhai.

The Australian committed 39 unforced errors on her way to crashing out of the US Open.

Wang, the No. 18 seed, is the first Chinese player to reach the quarterfinals at Flushing Meadows since 2014.

Up next for the Chinese player will be Serena Williams. EFE