Serena cruises to Open semifinals

Associated Press

NEW YORK

From an ace on the first point to a stinging return on the last, Serena Williams was close to perfect in the U.S. Open quarterfinals.

The score said it all Tuesday night: 6-0, 6-0.

Yes, Williams is looking better and better with each match at the year’s last Grand Slam tournament. With two more wins — no matter the exact scores — she’ll earn a fifth title at Flushing Meadows and 17th major championship overall.

The No. 1-ranked and No. 1-seeded Williams shut out 18th-seeded Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain, the first “double bagel” in a quarterfinal at Flushing Meadows since 1989, when 18-time major title winner Martina Navratilova did it to Manuela Maleeva.

“When you play against Serena,” Suarez Navarro said, “you know these things can happen.”

Williams won 53 of 71 points and dominated pretty much every statistical category. The first set took all of 19 minutes. The second was slower, lasting 33 minutes, but no less lopsided.

Williams was asked whether she’d describe her performance as close to flawless.

“Of course not,” the defending champion said with a laugh. “I played good, though. I played really good. I was just more focused than anything. You know, I like to believe there is room for improvement.”

That might be bad news for her opponent in Friday’s semifinals, 2011 French Open champion Li Na of China.

Asked in an on-court interview if her game is peaking, Williams replied: “No. Not yet. I hope not. I’m just trying to do the best that I can.”

After their quick-as-can-be match, defending men’s champion Andy Murray went into Ashe to face 65th-ranked Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan in the fourth round, with the winner to face No. 9 Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland.

A day after his Davis Cup teammate and friend, Roger Federer, lost, Wawrinka reached his second U.S. Open quarterfinal by beating No. 5 Tomas Berdych, the 2010 Wimbledon runner-up, 3-6, 6-1, 7-6 (6), 6-2 in Louis Armstrong Stadium at night.

In the afternoon, top-seeded Novak Djokovic won 45 of 53 service points while eliminating 43rd-ranked Marcel Granollers 6-3, 6-0, 6-0 in a grand total of only 79 minutes.