Serena Gets 70th Win of the Year and Advances to China Open Quarterfinals

October 3, 2013 | By Long Island Tennis Magazine Staff
Serena_01_19
Photo credit: Kenneth B. Goldberg

Serena Williams was a 7-5, 7-5 straight sets winner on Thursday at the 2013 China Open, defeating Russian Maria Kirilenko to move on to the quarterfinals. Serena will next face Caroline Wozniacki, a 6-3, 6-1 winner over Sloane Stephens on Thursday. It was Serena’s 70th match win of 2013, far surpassing her previous best of 58.

"Serena is a great competitor and an unbelievable champion—she’s won so much," Wozniacki said of her quarterfinals opponent. "For me, tomorrow I have so much to play for because the WTA Championships are coming up and I’m trying to grab a spot there. I really need to win tomorrow to have a chance. We’ll see what happens."

Serena, a China Open winner in 2004, and Kirilenko, a winner at the China Open in 2005, played a close match, as neither player could break early in the match. The match numbers were pretty even on the unforced errors side with Serena’s 25 and Kirilenko with 26, but it was Serena slamming 31 winners to Kirilenko’s 20.

Also victorious on Thursday was the number eight seed Jelena Jankovic, a 6-0, 6-0 winner over Carla Suárez Navarro in just under an hour. Jankovic will next meet Lucie Safarova, a 6-4, 6-7(4), 7-6(2) winner on Thursday over Andrea Petkovic.

 


Long Island Tennis Magazine Staff
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