Grand Slam winner Serena Williams remains on course to equal Margaret Court’s record in the women’s division and win her 24th Grand Slam singles title after beating Maria Sakkari in an epic fourth-round showdown.
It’s been more than 20 years since Williams won her first US Open and she took the first set with authority in a little over half an hour but Sakkari dug deep to edge Serena in a thrilling second set tie-break to force the decider.
The Greek 15th seed then struck the first blow, breaking in the third set only for Williams to break back and go on to break again in the eighth game to serve out the match.
Williams turns 39 in a couple of weeks and hasn’t won a Grand Slam singles title since the Australian Open in 2017, but is ahead of the line to win this edition having advanced to a showdown with Tsvetana Pironkova.
Watch the match highlights below
“Of course I thought about it but it’s a completely different match and a completely different moment,” Williams says in her post-match interview on the court when asked about the defeat to Sakkari.
“I just kept fighting. She was doing so well, she was being so aggressive, and I knew I needed to do the same thing.”
Maria Sakkari got the better of a weary Williams who was dealing with leg cramps at the Western & Southern Open, but not this time as the six-time singles champion at Flushing Meadow rose to the challenge.
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She is on course to go one better than 2018 and 2019 US Opens when she was beaten in the final on both occasions.
“I feel like I’m pretty vocal with or without a crowd, I’m super passionate, this is my job.
“This is what I wake up to do, this is what I train to do, 365 days of the year. I’m always going to bring that fire and that passion, and that Serena to the court.
“I always compete, competing and having a good attitude, I think, is what I’m most satisfied about.”
Tsvetana Pironkova who is unseeded in the competition will be the next to try and stop Williams in her bid for a Grand Slam crown after the Bulgarian continued her own dream run with a 6-4 6-7 (7-5) 6-3 win over Alize Cornet.
The former Wimbledon semi-finalist, having taken a break following the birth of her first child, is playing in her first tournament in three years and has reached the last eight for the first time in her career.
Pironkova, who had earlier defeated two-time Grand Slam champion Garbine Muguruza and 18th seed Donna Vekic in New York, despite given her toughest test in Cornet, came through in almost three hours of thrilling action.
The 32-year-old fired 46 winners past Cornet and won 21 points at the net.
Cornet mounted a comeback in the second set but Pironkova sealed victory in the final set.
In other centres…
Victoria Azarenka continues her resurgence to book her first Grand Slam quarter-final appearance since 2016.
She rallied from behind to beat 20th seed Karolina Muchova 5-7 6-1 6-4.
“I am so grateful for the opportunity to play, it is such a difficult time for everyone in the world,” she says. “I don’t take anything for granted, I want to enjoy every day as best I can, it has been a great time.
“I am super grateful and I am really happy to be here. It is another amazing opportunity, being in the quarter-final of a Grand Slam, I am really happy I am here.”
Azarenka will next face 16th seed Elise Mertens, who ended Sofia Kenin’s dreams of winning back-to-back majors.
“It means a lot, a lot is going on in the world and I am glad to be back playing matches and doing what I love,” the Belgian says.
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