Serena Williams breezes past Ekaterina Makarova to qualify for the fourth round – US Open 2012
Olympic gold medallist, Serena Williams, rallied past Ekaterina Makarova and qualified for the fourth round of the US Open 2012. The local challenger ousted her rival in straight sets, 6-4, 6-0 on Saturday.
Williams told the media, in an on court interview, “at 4-all I was just trying to get that break. Actually, I was trying to break the whole time. I just started playing a little bit better and a little bit more consistently.
I played such a good opponent today. She beat me before, in Australia this year, so going in I knew I needed to play better today, and I felt like I did. This is my home crowd, so it's hard not to be so excited to play here. Being an American and playing in
New York is just so exciting.”
Williams picked a classic start against her Russian rival and dominated the opening set. However, the 24-year-old did not make the American’s journey to the top an easy endeavour, equalizing the scores twice in the opening
set. This raised an upsetting situation for Williams and she pounced forward to clinch the last two games and mark her 6-4 lead.
In the following set, the 30-year-old broke her opponent’s serves three times. The world number 42, Makarova, seemed powerless against of the might of Williams, as she did not craft her a single chance to attain a break point.
The former world number one had a low first serve percentage of 31 but she grabbed four of five points. She also secured three of five break points in the closing set.
The left-handed Russian previously defeated the American in the quarter-finals of the Australian Open, held at the start of 2012 season. Williams avenged the Russian beauty and topped the head-to-head series with 2-1 after
her Saturday’s victory.
Seeded number four in the tournament draw, Williams is in excellent run of form since this year’s Wimbledon Champions. She is the hot favourite for winning the US Open Grand Slam this year, as she has already bagged away
three titles earlier this season.
The American tennis ace will contest against the Czech professional Andrea Hlavackova, who also defeated the Russian, Maria Kirilenko 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 in the third round of the tournament.
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