Set 1 was nothing like Set 2, and Set 3 was a completely different story. This is how Serena Williams beat Kaia Kanepi at the US Open.
Defending champion Rafael Nadal is back in the US Open quarterfinals, in which he will face Dominic Thiem. Joining them in the quarters is John Isner, who used a booming serve to defeat Milos Raonic in five sets.
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This was filled with big hitting by both women, along with all manner of shifts in momentum and quality of play. In the 18-minute shutout of the first set, Kanepi was tight, and Williams was pretty much perfect, grabbing 24 of 30 points.
But after compiling 14 winners and only two unforced errors in that set, Williams began making mistakes, becoming less and less comfortable as Kanepi grew increasingly so. Kanepi is ranked only 44th, but she has been a top-20 player in the past and has made it to Grand Slam quarterfinals a half-dozen times. Sure, that’s nothing compared to Williams’ 23 major titles, but it’s something. Plus, it’s worth remembering this: Kanepi eliminated No. 1 Simona Halep on the first day of this tournament.
In a blink, Williams had a match on her hands. Kanepi was matching Williams’ power with booming groundstrokes of her own. She was getting better reads on Williams’ serves. And the 36-year-old American began making more and more mistakes.
“I made one or two crucial errors, and that cost me the second set, or at least cost me the first game,” Williams said. “Then she [Kalepi] was holding pretty well at that point. So it wasn’t like my level went down tremendously. It was one or two points that made a huge difference in that second set.”
When Williams shanked a backhand return of a 103 mph serve, the match was a little more than an hour old, and it was tied at a set apiece. That was the first set Williams had lost against Kanepi of the 10 they’d played to that point and the first set Williams had lost at the 2018 U.S. Open, a run that included a 6-1, 6-2 victory over older sister Venus in the third round Friday night.
After that scream-inspiring hold to begin the final set, Williams broke right away to lead 2-0. She then faced a break point, but Kanepi wasted that chance by sending a backhand wide. From there, Williams smacked an ace at 118 mph, followed by a service winner at 113 mph to go up 3-0, and that essentially was that.
Williams is now making her 15th US Open quarterfinals appearance, breaking a tie with Martina Navratilova for the second-most among women in the Open Era. Chris Evert’s 19 are the most.
Next comes a quarterfinal against 2016 runner-up Karolina Pliskova, who beat Williams in the US Open semifinals that year.
“I really was feeling great that year. I’m feeling great now, too. But it was a little bit different story, 2016. I was, like, a dark horse. Nobody was expecting me to get that far,” the No. 8-seeded Pliskova said after beating No. 18 Ashleigh Barty 6-4, 6-4.
“I know she was the best at that time, but I just wanted to win. So that’s why I won because I believed I have a chance. I have a game to beat her.”
Defending champion Sloane Stephens returned to the U.S. Open quarterfinals with a 6-3, 6-3 victory over No. 15 seed Elise Mertens of Belgium.
No. 3 Stephens mixed her consistent, defense-to-offense style with the occasionally spectacular shot.
Now comes a rematch: She’ll face No. 19 Anastasija Sevastova of Latvia, the same person she beat in last year’s quarterfinals at Flushing Meadows.
Recalling that 2017 victory, decided by a third-set tiebreaker, Stephens said: “I had to dig really deep.”
Sevastova advanced Sunday by eliminating No. 7 Elina Svitolina 6-3, 1-6, 6-0.
Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.
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