Serena Routs Knapp for Quarterfinal Spot in Cincinnati
Serena Williams had no trouble reaching the Western & Southern Open quarterfinals in Cincinnati on Thursday, steamrolling Italian Karin Knapp 6-0, 6-2 to book her spot in the final eight.
The world number one American won the first nine games of this match, opening up a commanding 6-0, 3-0 lead, and after an exchange of holds, broke one last time in the final game to wrap up the straight-set win in 54 minutes.
Serena will play the winner of the match between fellow American Sloane Stephens and Serbian Ana Ivanovic.
Former world number one Jelena Jankovic hung on to beat eighth-seed Karolina Pliskova 6-2, 3-6, 7-5 on Thursday. Jankovic will do battle with Slovakia’s Anna Schmiedlova, who ousted American Varvara Lepchenko 6-3, 3-6, 6-4.
Seventh-seed Lucie Safarova advanced past Switzerland’s Belinda Bencic after Bencic retired with a wrist injury. Safarova took the first set 6-2 before the Rogers Cup champion had to retire.
“Well it’s never nice to get a win like that, and I hope Belinda will recover soon, especially for the U.S. Open,” said Safarova. “But I felt good on the court. I’ve been playing well and I’m looking forward to my next one.”
Bencic said afterwards that she is not too concerned about her wrist.
“First of all, I don’t think it’s very serious,” she said in her press conference. “I just wasn’t 100 percent today, and to beat Lucie or even compete against her, you need to be 100 percent. I’m really sorry I had to retire. It was like the first time ever I’ve retired from a match, so it didn’t feel very good. I just hope it will get better and I’m sure I will be fit very soon—now I need to talk with the team and decide what to do.”
Safarova will take on the winner of the match between 14th-seeded Elina Svitolina and Caroline Garcia.
