Williams sisters continue march in US Open
Sunday, 31 Aug 2008 11:17
Venus and Serena are close to another competitive meeting
Serena and Venus Williams continued their march in the US Open and are just one match away from meeting in the quarter-finals.
Both players eased through their third round ties on Saturday. Serena beat Japan's Ai Sugiyama 6-2 6-1, while Venus dispatched Poland's Alona Bondarenko 6-2 6-1.
Neither player was on court for more than an hour as each sister managed to overpower their opponent.
Serena will now take on France's Severine Bremond after she beat Tathiana Garbin of Italy 7-5 3-6 6-4. Venus faces a tougher task against ninth seed Agnieska Radwanska of Poland.
Radwanska, 19, beat Slovakia's Dominika Cibulkova 6-0 6-3 in 76 minutes and poses a legitimate threat to the much-anticipated all-Williams quarter-final.
The two players have only met once before, two years ago, and Radwanska was victorious on that occasion.
Former world number one Amelie Mauresmo continued her return to form with a straight-sets win over compatriot Julie Coin who had knocked out number one seed Ana Ivanovic in the second round.
It is the first grand slam this year that Mauresmo has qualified for the fourth round following a poor season by her standards.
Olympic runner-up Dinara Safina has also made it through to the fourth round after she came from a set behind to beat Swiss teenager Timea Bacsinszky 3-6 7-5 6-2.