- Williams reaches her 53rd grand slam quarter-final
- Sakkari defeated Williams just 12 days ago
Serena Williams appears to be building something in New York. At the US Open on Monday afternoon she played her best match of the year so far, beating Maria Sakkari 6-3, 6-7 (6), 6-3 in two and a half hours to reach her 53rd career grand slam quarter-final.
Just 12 days earlier the pair met in one of the worst matches of Williams’s career. After Williams led 7-5, 5-3 and served for the win, Sakkari recovered to grind out the second set on a tight tie-break at the Western & Southern Open having been two points from defeat. In the third set, Williams began to cramp and, as all looked lost, she seemed to lose interest. Sakkari won 5-7, 7-6 (5), 6-1.