NEW YORK — Serena Williams stepped onto the Arthur Ashe Stadium court wearing a lavendar tutu and matching high-top sneakers on Sunday afternoon. She then gave the crowd three sets to enjoy her dress — and her stellar play.
Williams, the six-time US champion and No. 17 seed, beat Kaia Kanepi of Estonia, 6-0, 4-6, 6-3 to advance to the quarterfinals, where she will face No. 8 Karolina Pliskova on Tuesday. Pliskova reached the US Open final in 2016. Pliskova beat Serena in the 2016 semifinals before losing to Angelique Kerber in the final.
Serena, who improved to 5-0 against Kanepi, is 11-3 in US Open quarterfinals.
“We always have really tough matches so I was just happy to get through it, to be honest,” Serena said on court after firing 18 aces in the win.
Serena was coming off Friday’s 6-1, 6-2 destruction of her big sister Venus, which she called the best match of her comeback after giving birth to her daughter Alexis Olympia a year ago.
Despite turning her right ankle in the first set against Venus, she seemed to pick up right where she left off against Kanepi, who knocked off No. 1 seed Simona Halep in the first round, thus opening up the draw for Serena. The crowd barely had time to settle in by the time Serena won the first set in 18 minutes.
“(The ankle) feels good,” she said on ESPN before going on court. “I, unfortunately, roll my ankle all the time so I’m used to it.”
After getting broken in the first game of the second set, Serena fell behind 2-5 before Kanepi served it out on her third set point at 5-4. Williams regrouped and earned a break in the second game of the third set en route to taking a commanding 3-0 lead.
“I sense Serena is playing better and better since she re-started practice after having a baby,” her coach, Patrick Morataglou, told ESPN during the match.
Serena agreed.
“I think the thing I’ve improved most is my fitness,” Serena said. “I think coming back from a baby is really hard, harder than I thought. That was the most important to improve was being fit and being able to play long matches.”
Serena remains on track for her 24th career major title, which would tie Margaret Court’s all-time record. Williams’ last major came at the 2017 Australian Open when, while two months pregnant, she beat Venus in the final.
“Serena is probably the best player that I have ever seen on a tennis court on the women’s tour,” Rafael Nadal, the No. 1 men’s seed, said after his four-set win. “Well, I saw Steffi (Graf), too. I liked Steffi a lot, too, when I was a kid. But both of them have been great. And, yeah, it is good to have somebody like her playing at this age, after being a mother. I think well done for her because that demonstrates the passion she has for the sport. That’s the good news.”
Still, Serena hasn’t won the US Open since 2014, losing in the semifinals in 2015 and ’16.
With Venus now out of the tournament, Serena could face another American or two down the road.
Defending champ and No. 3 seed Sloane Stephens looms as a potential semifinal opponent. Stephens was set to play No. 15 Elise Mertens on Sunday night. On Monday, Madison Keys, last year’s runner-up to Stephens, faces No. 29 Dominika Cibulkova in another fourth-round match.
One year after four American women — none of them named Sarena — closed out the semifinals, it’s possible three American ladies could reach this year’s semis.
“None of us are going to win 20-some slams like Serena,” said John Isner, the No. 11 seed on the men’s side, said before the Serena-Venus match. “On the American side of things, the women’s side has so many good players. Two legends still going right now, then Sloane and Madison right behind them.”
