NEW YORK, 6 September 2004 — Two-time champion Serena Williams fired 12 aces and had only one double fault in overpowering Patty Schyder 6-4, 6-2 in a fourth round match at the $17.8 million US Open yesterday.
“I have been working really hard on my serve and today it was going really well,” Williams said. Williams advances to the quarterfinals where she will meet either American compatriot Jennifer Capriati or Japanese 12th seed Ai Sugiyama.
Williams also hammered 24 winners but made almost as many unforced errors as Schyder (17-19) in the 58 minute match. The former world No. 1 has won just one WTA Tour title since Wimbledon last year.
“I am in the quarter-finals so I am really excited,” said Williams after her second consecutive straight-set match win. She did not defend her 2002 US Open title last year after having surgery to repair her left knee.
Tommy Haas, who is trying to return to the spotlight after missing all of 2003 with a shoulder injury, defeated Ricardo Mello 6-2, 6-3, 7-5 to reach the fourth round.
Haas, who has seven career titles, is seeking to regain the form he had in 2002 when he was ranked No. 2 in the world and won a silver medal at the Sydney Olympics.
Known for having one of the best backhands in the game, Haas said he is finally free of pain. He hammered 11 aces and hit 35 winners to boost his US Open record to a career 16-7. His 204kph (127mph) first serve was a formidable weapon, earning 83 percent of points when it found its mark.
Andre Agassi and Roger Federer remain on course to meet in the quarterfinals after both posted straight-set wins Saturday.
As the year’s final grand slam began to heat up women’s top seed Justine Henin-Hardenne also advanced to the fourth round where she was joined by in-form Lindsay Davenport who notched her 20th consecutive victory.
World No. 1 Federer oozed class against unorthodox Frenchman Fabrice Santoro, winning 6-0, 6-4, 7-6. “Today I was feeling good, my forehand was working and my serve was there when I needed it,” said Federer, who is looking for revenge over Agassi after he was thrashed by the American in the fourth round in 2001.
Agassi, the oldest man in the draw at 34, demolished Czech Jiri Novak 6-4, 6-2, 6-3 to reach the fourth round for the 14th time of his extraordinary career.
The sixth seed dished out a 92-minute lesson to Novak, who had no answer to the sixth seed’s laser-guided groundstrokes.
“I turned a corner I needed to turn going into the second week,” Agassi said.
Russia’s Nadia Petrova too progressed coming through a three-hour marathon against Silvia Farina Elia to set up a fourth-round meeting with top seed Henin-Hardenne. The Belgian, still struggling from the after-effects of a debilitating virus which kept her off the tour for 12 weeks, battled to a 6-4, 6-3 victory over gritty American Lisa Raymond.
In an eventful night session, Davenport survived a set point against Russian Elena Bovina to win 7-6, 6-2 and set up a mouth-watering last 16 match-up with Venus Williams.
Williams was far from her best against fellow American Chanda Rubin, but did just enough for a 7-6, 6-3 victory. “It’s a tough draw for sure,” Davenport said of her impending clash with Williams. “Not what you would want really in the last 16.”
Two men’s five setters had fans on the edge of their seats. Armenian Sargis Sargsian followed up his five-hour marathon against Nicolas Massu with another epic against Paul-Henri Mathieu, saving two match points to win 4-6, 4-6, 6-4, 6-2, 7-6 in fours hours 41 minutes to take his total court time to more than 12 hours. His reward is fourth round against Agassi.
Fifth seed Tim Henman twice trailed by a set but kept his Open dream alive with a 4-6, 6-3, 5-7, 6-4, 6-3 defeat of Czech qualifier Michal Tabara to reach the fourth round where he will play Germany’s Nicolas Kiefer.
The last surviving qualifier in the women’s draw fell when 17-year-old Anna Chakvetadze, who beat fellow Russian and French Open champion Anastasia Myskina in the previous round, lost to Greece’s Eleni Daniilidou 6-4, 6-2.
