NEW YORK, Sept 6: In danger of her earliest exit at the US Open since her debut 22 years ago, Serena Williams turned things around and took over against Sloane Stephens.
Williams emerged from the third-round matchup between two Americans who are past champions at Flushing Meadows � she�s won six of her 23 Grand Slam singles titles at the place � with a 2-6, 6-2, 6-2 victory over 2017 title holder Stephens on Saturday.
Afterward, Williams� 3-year-old daughter, Olympia, wore a mask and waved at Mom while sitting on her father�s lap in a front-row seat. On her way to the locker room, Williams waved back.
�I hope,� Williams said, �that she saw her mama fighting.�
Williams did it, as she so often does, with her best-in-the-game serve, hitting 12 aces at up to 122 mph as it got really perfect in midway through the second set, and an ability to re-calibrate her groundstrokes that were so awry early and so superb down the stretch.
There were some other players on hand to watch, including 15th-seeded Maria Sakkari, who sipped orange juice and ate lunch while on her player suite�s balcony. Sakkari had a vested interest: She faces Williams for a berth in the quarterfinals.
Other women into the fourth round: No. 16 Elise Mertens, No. 20 Karolina Muchova and Tsvetana Pironkova, who defeated No. 18 Donna Vekic 6-4, 6-1.
In men�s action, 2019 runner-up Daniil Medvedev and another semifinalist from a year ago, No. 6 Matteo Berrettini moved on, as did No. 10 Andrey Rublev, No. 15 Felix Auger-Aliassime, No. 21 Alex de Minaur and Vasek Pospisil, who�s been in the news lately because he teamed up with Novak Djokovic to set up a new association to represent players.
Pospisil eliminated No. 8 Roberto Bautista Agut 7-5, 2-6, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, and next face another five-set winner, de Minaur, who defeated No. 11 Karen Khachanov 6-4, 0-6, 4-6, 6-3, 6-1.
Williams against Sakkari is a rematch of their meeting won last month by Sakkari at the Western & Southern Open. � AP
