JOIN USDjokovic, Serena storm ahead
Two-time defending champion and top seed Serena Williams rode her big serve to a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Kaia Kanepi of Estonia to advance to the quarterfinals of the US Open on Monday.
Men’s top seed Novakl Djokovic too had an equally easy outing, as the Serbian dispatched Germany’s Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-1, 7-5, 6-4.
Williams won every one of her first serve points in the opening set, including six aces, as she pounded in 63 percent of them and never faced break point in the set.
The second set saw both players struggle on serve, with a total of six breaks registered, as Williams, who belted eight aces, won with her fourth service break in the final game of the 65-minute match between the ferocious hitters.
Williams will meet Italian 11th seed Flavia Pennetta, a semifinalist last year who advanced with a 7-5, 6-2 win against 29th-seeded Australian Casey Dellacqua.
On Sunday, baking heat, rain and the threat of lightning all forced stoppages in play but Roger Federer and Caroline Wozniacki marched on through a day of wild weather and upsets.
Former world number one Wozniacki had her fourth round match with Maria Sharapova halted briefly by the heat rule but it was the fifth-seeded French Open champion who wilted under a blazing sun, falling 6-4, 2-6, 6-2.
Later, rain interrupted Federer's clash with Marcel Granollers before the five-time US Open champion came back from a set down to crush the Spaniard 4-6, 6-1, 6-1, 6-1 and storm into the fourth round.
A stormy day finished off with another upset on Arthur Ashe Stadium court as 17-year-old Swiss sensation Belinda Bencic swept past ninth-seeded Serb and former world number one Jelena Jankovic 7-6 (6), 6-3.
Next up for Bencic is another giant-killer in China’s Peng Shuai. The doubles specialist eased into the last eight with a 6-3, 6-4 win over 14th-seeded Czech Lucie Safarova.
The departures of Sharapova and Jankovic leave only world number one Serena Williams, Canadian seventh seed Eugenie Bouchard and Wozniacki as the surviving members of the women's top 10.
Wozniacki showed great grit in battling past Sharapova as the punishing conditions turned the match into a battle for survival.
A Grand Slam title is the one major hole in Wozniacki's considerable resume and the Dane may never have a better opportunity to fill it with the draw having opened up.
After play resumed, Wozniacki turned up her own heat on the five-time Grand Slam winner in the third set.
The Dane captured the decisive break in the third game after a spectacular point in which she raced three times across the baseline to retrieve shots before the Russian netted a backhand volley to fall behind 3-1.
Wozniacki broke Sharapova again for good measure in the final game to return to a Grand Slam quarterfinal for the first time since the 2012 Australian Open.
Bops-Srebotnik advance
India’s Rohan Bopanna and his Slovenian partner Katrina Srebotnik sailed into the mixed doubles quarterfinals after a comprehensive 6-3, 6-4 win over the Spanish-South African pairing of Anabel Medina Garrigues and Raven Klaasen 6-3, 6-4 on Sunday.
Results (prefix denotes seedings):
Men’s singles, fourth round: 1- Novak Djokovic (Ser) bt Philipp Kohlschreiber (Ger) 6-1, 7-5, 6-4.
Third round: 14-Marin Cilic (Cro) bt 18-Kevin Anderson (SA) 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4; 26-Gilles Simon (Fra) bt 4-David Ferrer (ESP) 6-3, 3-6, 6-1, 6-3; 17-Roberto Bautista (ESP) bt Adrian Mannarino (Fra) 7-5, 6-2, 6-3 ; Dominic Thiem (Aus) bt 19-Feliciano
Lopez (ESP) 6-4, 6-2, 6-3; 2-Roger Federer (Swi) bt Marcel Granollers (ESP) 4-6, 6-1, 6-1, 6-1; 6-Tomas Berdych (Cze) bt Teymuraz Gabashvili (Rus) 6-3, 6-2, 6-4
Women’s singles, fourth round: 1- Serena Williams (US) bt Kaia Kanepi (Est) 6-3, 6-3; 11-Flavia Pennetta (Ita) bt 29-Casey Dellacqua (Aus) 7-5, 6-2; 10-Caroline Wozniacki (Den) bt 5-Maria Sharapova (Rus) 6-4, 2-6, 6-2; 13-Sara Errani (Ita) bt Mirjana Lucic-Baroni (Cro) 6-3, 2-6, 6-0; Peng Shuai (Chi) bt 14-Lucie Safarova (Cze) 6-3, 6-4.