Williams serenely through
Defending champion Serena Williams beat Spaniard Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez 6-3 7-5 to win her third-round match at the US Open.
The second seed, who is yet to lose a set in the tournament, carved out 11 break points, but converted just four of them proved enough to claim victory.
The American raced through the opening set in 31 minutes, but her opponent threatened a fightback when she took a 3-1 lead in the second set.
Williams responded, however, getting the set back on serve at 3-2 before going on to clinch the match.
"I got super pumped in the second set when I got down 1-3," Williams said on the official US Open website. "Like I felt I needed to do something to charge my battery, so to say, and I just wanted to play harder and do better."
Eighth seed Victoria Azarenka, though, crashed out, Francesca Schiavone winning their third-round encounter 4-6 6-2 6-2.
Belarusian Azarenka got 80% of her first serves in, but won just 56% of points on that serve and just 26% on her second serve.
Six double faults and 46 unforced errors further undermined her performance as Schiavone, the Italian 26th seed, rattled through the second and third sets.
Russian Vera Zvonareva progressed comfortably, knocking out compatriot Elena Vesnina, seeded 31, 6-2 6-4
Elsewhere, 10th seed Flavia Pennetta of Italy crushed Aleksandra Wozniak 6-1 6-1, 18th seed Na Li defeated Maria Kirilenko 6-4 6-2 and 22nd seed Daniela Hantuchova brushed aside Vania King 6-2 6-2.
