After defeating her older sister in what she called her best match since returning to tennis, Serena Williams ensured Kaia Kanepi, this year’s biggest spoiler of the 2018 US Open, would not end her own run toward a title.
Williams didn’t have it easy after a clean first set in which she cruised 6-0. Kanepi, whose earlier victory over Halep marked the first time a top-seeded woman had ever lost in the US Open’s first round during the pro era, fought back for a second-set decision to stay in contention and vie for a second straight quarterfinal at Flushing Meadows.
Williams kicked it up a gear in the third and on the back of 18 aces she took the match 6-0, 4-6, 6-3 final that sends her to the quarterfinals.
Defending champion Rafael Nadal’s progress into the US Open quarter-finals was far from smooth as he needed four sets to beat unseeded Georgian Nikoloz Basilashvili.
The 32-year-old Spaniard led by two sets to love before Basilashvili, ranked 37th in the world, recovered to take a third-set tie-break.
He faces ninth seed Dominic Thiem next.
Nadal has reached at least the quarter-finals in all four Grand Slams this year – the first time he has achieved the feat since 2011.
Austria’s Thiem knocked out South African fifth seed Kevin Anderson – the man who lost in the final to Nadal at Flushing Meadows last year – in three sets earlier on Sunday.
John Isner reached the quarter-finals for the first time in seven years with a 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 6-2 win over Canada’s Milos Raonic and hailed the patriotic tournament atmosphere as a “jungle.” Isner, the 11th seed, is the only American man left as he attempts to become the first home winner since Andy Roddick in 2003.
The 33-year-old will face either 2009 champion and third seed Juan Martin del Potro or Croatia’s Borna Coric for a place in the semi-finals.
Upcoming Games:
MEN’S
- Nishikori V Kohlschreiber
- Djokovic V Sousa
- Cilic V Goffin
- Millman V Federer
- Del Potro V Isner
- Nadal V Thiem
TIPS:
- Nishikori @ $1.22
- Djokovic 3-0 @ $1.22
- Cilic @ $1.42
- Federer 3-0 @ $1.33
- Del Potro @ $1.35
- Nadal @ $1.23
WOMEN’S
- Keys V Cibulkova
- Sabalenka V Osaka
- Vondrousova V Tsurenko
- Suarez Navarro V Sharapova
- Stephens V Sevastova
- Williams V Pliskova
TIPS:
- Keys @ $1.40
- Osaka @ $2.20
- Tsurenko @ $1.54
- Sharapova @ $1.40
- Stephens @ $1.44
- Williams @ $1.34
MULTI TIP:
Djokovic 3-0 + Federer 3-0 + Keys + Sharapova + Stephens + Williams @ $6.13
