Serena Williams sped past another milestone on Saturday en route to the US Open fourth round as men's contenders Andy Murray and Stan Wawrinka clawed their way into the last 16.
World number one Williams dominated Sweden's Johanna Larsson 6-2, 6-1 to surpass Martina Navratilova for most Grand Slam wins by a woman with 307.
Not only has she surpassed Navratilova, she matched Roger Federer's mark for men."To be up there with both men and women is something that's super-rare, and it actually feels good," said Williams, who said she was "really excited" to reach 307.
"Obviously I want to keep that number going higher," added Williams, who will get her chance when she takes on Kazakhstan's Yaroslava Shvedova for a quarterfinal berth.
In the one hour it took to subdue Larsson, Williams appeared untroubled by the shoulder injury that has slowed her since her Wimbledon triumph.
"It definitely feels solid," she said. "I'm doing a lot of work on it so I can keep it in this position."
While Williams encountered little resistance as she moved a step closer to an Open Era record of 23 Grand Slam titles — and Margaret Court's all-time record of 24 — it was another story for the top men's seeds in action.
Wawrinka, a two-time Grand Slam winner and twice a semifinalist in New York, had the closest call, saving a match point in a 4-6, 6-3, 6-7 (6/8), 7-6 (10/8), 6-2 victory over Britain's Dan Evans.
The 31-year-old third seed saved the match point at 5/6 in the fourth set tiebreaker, breaking the will of his 64th-ranked opponent.
Murray's troubles against Paolo Lorenzi were much of his own making as he allowed the Italian journeyman to make him look ordinary through two sets before pulling himself together to win 7-6 (7/4), 5-7, 6-2, 6-3.
Juan Martin del Potro, whose career was nearly derailed by injuries after his 2009 US Open triumph, fired 37 winners in a 7-6 (7/3), 6-2, 6-3 victory over Spanish 11th seed David Ferrer.
Sixth seed Venus Williams, whose seven Grand Slam titles include US Open crowns in 2000 and 2001, coasted into the round of 16 with a 6-1, 6-2 win over German Laura Siegemund, setting up a meeting with 10th-seeded Karolina Pliskova, a 6-2, 6-4 winner over Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.
Mixed luck for Sania
India’s Sania Mirza and Rohan Bopanna progressed with their respective partners but Leander Paes’ campaign ended after the veteran suffered a second-round defeat.
Sania and Barbora Strycova advanced to the third round of the women’s doubles after a 6-2, 7-6 (5) win over Viktorija Golubic and Nicole Melichar.
Sania however lost in mixed doubles round two. Partnering Ivan Dodig, the Indian went down to Barbora Krejcikova and Marin Draganja 3-6,4-6.
Bopanna and Gabriela Dabrowski defeated Lukasz Kubot and Andrea Hlavackova 5-7, 6-3, 10-7 to move into the quarterfinals. Paes and Martina Hingis lost to Americans Coco Vandeweghe and Rajeev Ram 7-6 (1), 3-6, 13-11 in mixeddoubles.
Kyrgios injured
Australian Nick Kyrgios’s campaign ended in pain and tears when he retired from his third round match against Ukraine's Illya Marchenko with a hip injury on Saturday. On Sunday, Gael Monfils beat Marcos Baghdatis 6-3, 6-2, 6-3.
Results (prefix denote seedings): Men: Round 3: 10-Gael Monfils (Fra) bt Marcos Baghdatis (Cyp) 6-3, 6-2, 6-3; Juan Martín Del Potro (Arg) bt 11-David Ferrer (Esp) 7-6 (3), 6-2, 6-3; Illya Marchenko (Ukr) bt 14-Nick Kyrgios (Aus) 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 (rtd); 3-Stanislas Wawrinka (Sui) bt Dan Evans (Gbr) 4-6, 6-3, 6-7 (6), 7-6 (8), 6-2; 6-Kei Nishikori (Jpn) bt Nicolas Mahut (Fra) 4-6, 6-1, 6-2, 6-2; 21-Ivo Karlovic (Cro) bt Jared Donaldson (US) 6-4, 7-6 (3), 6-3; 22-Grigor Dimitrov (Bul) bt Joao Sousa (Por) 6-4, 6-1, 3-6, 6-2; 2-Andy Murray (Gbr) bt Paolo Lorenzi (Ita) 7-6 (4), 5-7, 6-2, 6-3.
Women: 1-Serena Williams (US) bt Johanna Larsson (Swe) 6-2, 6-1; Anastasija Sevastove (Lat) bt 13-Johanna Konta (Gbr) 6-4, 7-5; Yaroslava Shvedova (Kaz) bt Zhang Shuai (Chn) 6-2, 7-5; 11-Carla Suarez Navarro (Esp) bt 19-Elena Vesnina (Rus) 6-4, 6-3; 5-Simona Halep (Rom) bt 31-Timea Babos (Hun) 6-1, 2-6, 6-4; 4-Agnieszka Radwanska (Pol) bt 25-Caroline Garcia (Fra) 6-2, 6-3; 10-Karolina Pliskova (Cze) bt 17-Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (Rus) 6-2, 6-4; 6-Venus Williams (US) bt 26-Laura Siegemund (Ger) 6-1, 6-2.
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