2nd September, 2013
Serena Williams, who lost to the 20-year-old Stephens at the Australian Open in January, avenged that defeat with an emphatic 6-4, 6-1 that sent her into the U.S. Open quarterfinals Sunday night.
It’s no fun getting schooled. It’s less fun still when the lessons are administered by the person you might want to beat more than any other, girlhood idol turned fierce rival.
Sloane Stephens may well be a transcendent tennis talent, bound for greatness and future U.S. Open titles, but that time is not now. It surely wasn’t Sunday, when the best player in the world did everything but smack her with a ruler, and chase her out of her classroom, in Arthur Ashe Stadium, the final arithmetic being 6-4, 6-1.
“Obviously she’s No. 1 in the world for a reason,” Stephens said. “I thought she played really well. It didn’t go how I wanted. All in all I competed well and played well. That’s all you can do, really.”
“It’s an honor to be able to play on the court with one of the greatest players of all time,” Stephens said. Defending men’s champion Andy Murray and world number one Novak Djokovic also won in straight sets, while 2001 winner Lleyton Hewitt turned back the clock to reach the fourth round for the first time since 2006.
Murray, playing in the middle of a hot and steamy day, needed less than two hours to see off Germany’s Florian Mayer 7-6 (2) 6-2 6-2 and advance to the fourth round.
Djokovic was even more ruthless in his center court night match against Portugal’s Joao Sousa, cruising to a 6-0 6-2 6-2 win, while 32-year-old Hewitt wore down Russia’s Evgeny Donskoy 6-3 7-6 (5) 3-6 6-1.
“Obviously when you’ve been to the top you want to keep playing,” said Hewitt, who stunned sixth seed Juan Martin del Potro in the previous round.
“The reason you’re playing is for the majors, and for me, Davis Cup as well. That’s the reason I’m still playing.”
The biggest surprise on a day when most results went as expected was the defeat of women’s third seed Agnieszka Radwanska.
The Pole, who had made it to the quarter-finals or better at the three other grand slams this year, crumbled to a 6-4 6-4 defeat by Russia’s Ekaterina Makarova after she had won the first four games of the match.
Makarova wil play China’s Li Na after Asia’s top player accounted for Jelena Jankovic 6-3 6-0.