NEW YORK, Sept. 1 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Open No.1 seed Serena Williams did a wonderful job by beating American compatriot Sloane Stephens 6-4, 6-1 to book a spot in the women's last eight.
"I definitely think it was a high-quality match," said Williams. "I don't think either of us had an overwhelming amount of unforced errors."
The first set turned out to be a close one, in which the two players leveled until 2-2. Stephens made a couple of unforce errors in the sixth game, and Williams took the chance to complete a break with a forehand winner. Stephens broke back to draw the score back to 4-4, but hot-handed Williams won the following two games to end the first set.
Stephens didn't recover from the first set, losing five straight games after 1-1 to finish the match.
"She's already beaten a couple top players," said Williams about her opponent.
"Sometimes you need a win against top players. She's beaten me, she's beaten other players, so she'there."
The WTA top-ranked player would meet No. 18 seed Suarez Navarro from Spain, who outclassed German eighth seed Angelique Kerber 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7-3) on the same day.