Serena Williams looked to be in trouble at the mid-point of her third round match - compatriot Bethanie Mattek-Sands – shaky return game, broken trying to serve out the set and just two games away from defeat. However, she proved her champion status once more as she stole the second set and ran away with the third, something she has been forced to do many times this year.

First set - upset on the cards?

Mattek-Sands began the match serving, but Williams showed her immense power early and it was suddenly a deuce game. Williams took advantage of Mattek-Sands’ second serves to set up a break point, but was overambitious and Mattek-Sands held with a backhand error off the racket of Williams. Similarly to Williams’ second round match she was broken early, and Mattek-Sands consolidated her break and took advantage of Williams’ slow start and held to love, leading 3-0. Williams found herself down 0-30 on serve, but a stunning passing shot down the line helped her hold and get on the scoreboard, 1-3. The crowd support of Williams got louder as a stunning backhand winner from the top seed gave her break point, and a missed volley from Mattek-Sands saw Williams break back to get the score on serve, 2-3.

However, Mattek-Sands found herself once again a break up as she led 4-2. The underdog used exceptional court coverage and was aided by an incorrect challenge from Williams to hold once more. Williams seemed to wake up and discover her dominant first serve again and held easily, but still trailed 3-5 to Mattek-Sands attempting to serve out the set. The younger player withstood the pressure of two break points against her and took the set with a huge serve, 6-3 in 37 minutes.

Second set - a narrow escape for Williams

Williams showed no signs of the first set affecting her as she held cleanly to 15 for a 1-0 lead to kick start the second. She immediately set up two break points with a huge backhand cross court winner at the net, however, both were extinguished with errors from her racket. Mattek-Sands held to equal the score, 1-1. Both women held twice more, the pressure being piled onto Mattek-Sands as Williams created a multitude of break point opportunities, but could not make the break through – making it three games all.

The tension in Arthur Ashe stadium mounted further upon Williams but she handled it well and held to 15, yelling a huge “COME ON” as she sealed the game with a classic one-two combination of serve and forehand winner. A cross court winner once again gave the world number one two break points, and a missed forehand off the Williams return from Mattek-Sands finally gave the top seed the break she needed to serve out the set. However, nerves clearly affected Williams who served poorly and was broken, and it was back on serve 4-5. Mattek-Sands, who was handling the pressure of the situation far better than Williams, held comfortably to level it at 5-5.

Amidst all the nervy service games she had played, some cleanly hit winners and an ace were fired off Williams’ racket and she surprisingly held to love to ensure herself at least a tiebreaker. An error from Mattek-Sands and two return winners from Williams gave her three set points. One was saved with a forehand error and another with a missed backhand from Williams, but the third one was taken with dominating groundstrokes from Williams that forced the error from Mattek-Sands, winning the set 7-5 in 47 minutes and boasting a 26/10 winners to unforced errors ratio.

Third set - Williams blanks Mattek-Sands

Her second set win seemed to have spurred her on, as Williams fired four strong serves followed by winners to make her mark on the set and lead 1-0. The opposite was true of Mattek-Sands; she immediately was up against two break points, and served just her third double fault of the night to give the game away. The next service game was closer, with Williams being pushed to deuce – but she was in no real danger, not facing a break point and ultimately holding for 3-0. It looked as though Williams was sailing through at this point, taking the first of another two break points with a flicked backhand cross court pass and a clenched fist, now only two games from the fourth round.

A stunning forehand pass right into the corner that ended with Williams doing the splits on the floor was undoubtedly the best point of the match and only added to the brutal display she was now putting on, as she held with another ace to put what was the final nail in the coffin for Mattek-Sands, leading 5-0. It was a meek ending to a thrilling match, with the promising start the underdog had made being erased as she was handed a bagel set. Williams smashed a cross court shot to force the error from Mattek-Sands and taking the match 3-6, 7-5, 6-0.

Next up for Williams is talented rising star Madison Keys, who beat Agnieska Radwanska earlier today to earn her spot in the fourth round. Keys' game is pure aggression and power, with intense baseline shots so Williams will need to serve well to win as many cheap points as she can. It’ll be a tough battle and Williams will need to play better than she did today – this fourth round encounter is an intriguing prospect to say the least.

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About the author
Joely Cook
Lover of tennis, in particular Rafael Nadal.