Williams sisters ease through
Originally published on: 26/02/10 11:59
Meanwhile, Serena Williams also made quick work of her opponent, routing Japan’s Ai Sugiyama 6-2 6-1.
A two-time winner of the year’s final Grand Slam, Venus has advanced into the fourth round here in each of her 10 career appearances. A back-to-back winner starting in 2000 and a finalist in 1997 and 2002, Venus feels all that experience makes her quite a dangerous opponent.
“Oh, I think I’m definitely at my best now,” Venus said. “I think I understand the game more. Trying different kind of shots, too, lately. Trying to add some variety.”
The seventh seed, Venus beat Bondarenko for the second consecutive year, also topping the 24-year-old in the third round here last season. She also teamed with Serena to top Alona and her sister Kateryna in the semi-finals in doubles in Beijing earlier this month en route to an Olympic gold medal. Venus used a booming serve to secure her third straight lopsided win, finishing with nine aces. Overall, she needed just over three hours to reach the second week.
The fourth seed, Serena won 71 percent of the points on her serve and captured four breaks en route to wrapping up the match in 66 minutes.
Venus and Serena are on course for a potential clash between each other in the quarterfinals. The sisters have squared off in three previous matchups at the US Open, with the older sister winning two of them. Before that can happen, Serena will face Frenchwoman Severine Bremond, who recorded a 7-5, 3-6,6-4 triumph over Tathiana Garbin of Italy.
Also advancing early was ninth seed Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland, who routed No. 18 Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia 6-0 6-3. Radwanska next will face Venus, a player that she managed just three games against in their only previous meeting in 2006.
Fresh off her upset of top seed Ana Ivanovic in the second round, Frenchwoman Julie Coin could not continue that success against compatriot Amelie Mauresmo, dropping a 6-4 6-4 decision. Dinara Safina continued in good pace after a slow start on Saturday, ousting Timea Bacsinszky of Switzerland 3-6 7-5 6-2. The sixth-seeded Russian continued to build off the momentum of her silver-medal performance at the Beijing Olympics when she defeated Italy’s Roberta Vinci, 6-4 6-3 on Thursday. Safina, who has yet to make it past the quarterfinals at the US Open, improved to 35-4 since May.
In another seeded match Saturday, 17th-seeded Alize Cornet of France was upset by German Anna-Lena Groenefeld, who posted a 6-4 7-5 triumph.
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