Serena Williams met Yaroslava Shvedova for the fifth time in their respective careers in the fourth round of the 2016 US Open. The record-setting encounter saw a dominant Williams who was clearly motivated to advance one step closer to holding on to her number one ranking. After 68 minutes, the American emerged victorious to the tune of 6-2, 6-3.
Williams dominates opening set
Kicking off the match with an ace and a double-fault was an odd beginning for the world number one. Nonetheless, Williams was able to hold at 30 without any more blips. Her first return game would play through as many had in the past--with the American powering her way to triple break point on Shvedova’s serve. Despite being in a three-point hole, the Kazakh saved every break point and another one after double-faulting at deuce. Five would end up being the magic number; on the fifth break point, Shvedova slapped a backhand into the net to give up the match’s first break--giving Williams a 2-0 lead.
The third game ended in a hold at fifteen, and this match was becoming The Serena Show. Shvedova finally ended her drought--overcoming a 95-mile-per-hour forehand return from her opponent--in the fourth game where she held at 30 to get on the board, 1-3. Once on the scoreboard, the 28-year-old’s next task became breaking serve to get back in the set. That feat would not be accomplished in the next game; Williams held again with ease at 15.
Getting a second hold proved to be a trying task for Shvedova, but she was up for the challenge. While it took three deuces, the world number 52 held without giving her opponent any looks at a break point; her serve also picked up and it was her get-out-of-jail-free card in the sixth game.
Leading 4-2, Williams played four vicious points and, in turn, held at love to get within one game of winning the set. The set wouldn’t last much longer as Shvedova found herself in trouble in the next game; the Kazakh had to face her first break point since the second game, and she saved it--forcing a forehand error from her opponent. However, on the next point, Williams was gifted a second chance to break for the set. She didn’t let that one go to waste as her younger adversary missed a forehand down the line.
En route to a 6-2 first set win, Williams dominated on serve. She had three more aces than Shvedova (five to two), and won every point on first serve except for one. The biggest difference, however, was on the return; the American won half of her return points, while her opponent took just one out of every five on her.
Williams closes out second set without much resistance on serve
The first game of the second set began and ended with big serves from Williams; the second one, moreover, clocked in at a scorching 126 miles per hour. Starting off much better than in the first set, Shvedova held after a single deuce in her first service game. That leveled the score for the first time since the match began at zero-zero.
An ace in the third game concluded another hold at 15 for Williams. Along with a 2-1 lead, the American had given up just two points on serve in the set. As for the Kazakh, her second service game was also a relatively easy one; she gave up just two points in the game, with one coming via her fifth double fault of the match. The fifth game was another hold at 15 for the world number one, and the set remained on serve at 3-2 in favor of the 34-year-old.
Serena saw her first break point of the set when Shvedova carried a forehand long at 30-30. The break was relinquished when the Kazakh missed a forehand volley out wide. A fourth straight hold at 15 from the American brought the score to 5-2, and the match seemed to be ending sooner rather than later. While the world number 52 was able to hold at 30 for one last game won, breaking back continued to be mission impossible. Serena ended the match not with a hold at 15, but a hold at 30--taking the second set 6-3.
Equipped with a fourth round victory, Williams will advance to the quarterfinals where she will meet Simona Halep--whom she has lost to just once in eight meetings. This match was also Serena’s 308th Grand Slam match won; that is good for the most of any tennis player--male or female. The previous holder of that record was none other than Roger Federer.