NEW YORK — Didn’t take long for Serena Williams to show her fourth-round opponent at the U.S. Open where things were headed.
“The first point of the whole match,” 82nd-ranked Andrea Hlavackova explained, “when I served, and she returned, like, a 100 mph forehand return, I was like, ‘OK, I know who I’m playing. You don’t have to prove it to me. I know.’ ”
Monday’s match was less than 15 seconds old. It might as well have been over.
Dominant from the moment she ripped that return, Williams extended her 21/2-month stretch of excellence with a 6-0, 6-0 victory, known as a “double bagel,” to get to the quarterfinals.
Next for the fourth-seeded Williams, who won the U.S. Open in 1999, 2002 and 2008, is a match against former No. 1 Ana Ivanovic, who defeated 55th-ranked Tsvetana Pironkova, 6-0, 6-4. Williams — who lost in the third round of doubles with older sister Venus on Monday night — is 3-0 against Ivanovic, including a straight-set victory in the fourth round at Flushing Meadows last year.
In other women’s matches of note, No. 10 Sara Errani got past No. 6 Angelique Kerber, 7-6 (5), 6-3, and 20th-seeded Roberta Vinci of Italy stunned No. 2 Agnieszka Radwanska, 6-1, 6-4.
On the men’s side, top-seeded Roger Federer got some extra rest Monday, because his fourth-round opponent, 23rd-seeded Mardy Fish of the United States, withdrew hours before their scheduled match for precautionary reasons, citing medical advice.
The 30-year-old Fish missed about 21/2 months this season because of an accelerated heartbeat and had a medical procedure in May.
No. 3 seed Andy Murray muted 15th-seeded Milos Raonic’s big serve and won, 6-4, 6-4, 6-2, to reach an eighth consecutive major quarterfinal.
“Today was by far my best match of the tournament,” Murray concluded.
Murray will play No. 12 Marin Cilic of Croatia, who put together a 7-5, 6-4, 6-0 victory over 50th-ranked Martin Klizan of Slovakia, the last left-hander and unseeded man remaining. Murray has won 6 of 7 matches against Cilic over their careers.
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