Serena Williams and Maria Sakkari faced off in order to determine who will play in the US Open quarterfinals. The first set started off well for both players as neither had any issues winning their own service games. We were tied at 2-2 when Serena kicked into a higher gear to win two games in a row and take a 5-2 lead. We saw two more games in the first set ending it at 6-3.

Serena looked very good in the first set much better than in the previous round. The 2nd round was a proper battle between the two players. Sakkari played exceptionally well on her own serve but rarely threatened with a break on Serena's serve. The first troubles for Serena came in the 12th game of the set when he had to save a set point in order to stay in the match. She managed to do and gave herself a chance to end it in a tiebreak, a tiebreak in a set where Sakkari never allowed a breakpoint.

Her stellar play on her serve continued into the tiebreak where she jumped out to an early 3-0 lead, which became a 4-2 lead and then a 6-4 lead. Serena managed to equalise it at 6-6 but then lost two points in a row giving the set to Sakkari. The 3rd one had a dream start for Sakkari who broke Serena early to position herself in a great spot for the rest of the match.

But it wasn't meant to be as Serena battled back immediately to equalise the score before going on to break Sakkari at a crucial time in the final set. When he broke her serve she made it 5-3 to herself and after that, she proceeded to swiftly end the match with 6-3. A tough match fo Serena but a deserving win.

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