17th seed Serena Williams once again led the charge in the nightcap in Arthur Ashe Stadium. She met Carina Witthoeft of Germany and only dropped four games in the process, winning 6-2, 6-2. The American will now face older sister Venus Williams as she edged out Camila Giorgi earlier in the day.
Excellent Performance For Serena
Witthoeft had trouble dealing with the power of Serena throughout the whole match, and the early break was an indication things were not going to do down well for the German. Serena said she felt good about her serve, "I think Patrick told me I served really well today. I agree. Even though I was broken, I feel like I was able to serve pretty well today. So that was pretty good."
She was broken in her third service game, only for Witthoeft to give it right back. The German saved her first set point against her with a loose forehand from Serena, but back-to-back unforced errors closed out a quick opening set from the five-time champion
The initial stages of the second set saw the best and worst of Serena, firing four straight winners to hold at love then hitting three unforced errors in four points for Witthoeft to claim the early hold.
The 23-year-old German finally let her resistance break in the middle of the set though with Serena relentlessly throwing those powerful groundstrokes to the German's forehand side. A break at in the sixth game put Serena ahead, but the American was made to work to consolidate, saving break back point before going up 5-2.
Another break to close out the match from the former world number one closed it out at 6-2, 6-2 and a much-awaited showdown with her sister.