US Open 2013: Day 7 - Serena gets Sloane revenge

Determined Williams got revenge on Sloane Stephens in New York

US Open 2013: Day 7 - Serena gets Sloane revenge

Since the draw came out the Australian Open rematch of Serena Williams and Sloane Stephens in the fourth round has been in everyone's radar as one of the decisive matches in the women's draw.

On Day 8 it came to pass and for a set it was a thriller before Williams claimed the spoils 6-4 6-1. This was no changing of the guard; this was a reminder that Serena Williams wants to remain top dog in American women's tennis for a while longer and is not going to give up her US Open title without one hell of a fight. 

The first set was full of power hitting from both women and was nip ands tuck all the way.  Williams broke first for 4-2 by slamming a forehand crosscourt return.  The World No.1 then double faulted twice to be broken and the 15th seeded Stephens levelled at 4-4.

Williams rebounded and broke for the second time in game ten to take the lead.  The start of the second set was tight but the top seed got the break in game four and did not look back.

 

It was a friendly looking handshake between the US No.1 and US No.2

The main differences for me were the serve - Serena can always step it up like no other women can - and importantly the defence. 

While Stephens did an impressive job of staying in many rallies when Williams was on full attack the 20 year-old was not able to defend often while Williams' defence was excellent and only Stephen's finest forehand blasts got past her.

It is going to take one hell of a performance to stop Serena lifting a 17th major title on Sunday.

Men's singles round-up

As expected No.1 seed Novak Djokovic cruised into the last 16 with a 6-0 6-2 6-2 thrashing of Portugal's Joao Sousa in the Ashe night session.

      

Reigning champion Andy Murray came through a tight opener and then pulled away from Florian Mayer to win in straight sets.  The Wimbledon champion faces Denis Istomin in the fourth round after the Uzbek No.1 defeated Andreas Seppi in five.

Tomas Berdych and Stanislas Wawrinka setup an exciting fourth round meeting with differing third round wins.  Berdych crushed Julien Benneteau while Wawrinka let slip a demanding lead but managed to get past Marcos Baghdatis in four.

US hopes in the Men's singles ended as wildcard Tim Smyczek let slip a 4-1 final set lead and fell 6-4 4-6 0-6 6-3 7-5 to Marcel Granollers who moves onto face Djokovic.  For the first time no American men have reached the fourth round.

2001 winner Lleyton Hewitt continued his run by reaching the last 16 for the first time since 2006 with a four set win over Evgeny Donskoy.  He next faces two-time Mikhail Youzhny who saw off an under par Tommy Haas 6-3 6-2 2-6 6-3.

Women's singles round-up

Williams next faces Carla Suarez Navarro who reached her third Grand Slam final with a thrilling 4-6 6-3 7-6(7-3) victory over sour faced 8th seed Angelique Kerber. 

When the Spanish No.1 was broken to love serving for the match at 5-4 it appeared the 2011 semi-finalist might reach her first major quarter final of the year but Suarez Navarro stepped up impressively. 

When she takes on Williams she'll be well advised to forget their last meeting in Rome in the spring when the World No.1 demolished her 6-2 6-0. 

Under the lights on the Louis Armstrong arena 3rd seed Agnieszka Radwanska failed to reach her first US Open quarter final and fourth last eight spot in 2013.  The Pole raced into a 4-0 lead but fell for the first time in four meetings to Ekaterina Makarova.

The Russian will face Li Na in the last eight after the 5th seeded Chinese No.1 was simply on fire in the night session on Ashe destroying 9th seed Jelena Jankovic 6-3 6-0 in 57 minutes. On that form Li should be appearing in a first US Open semi-final.

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