|
 Williams, who won the title in 2001, 2011 and 2013, dominated on
service and blasted nine aces in a match that lasted just over an
hour.
"I think I served better. That was the big difference," Williams
told reporters. I still think I have a tremendous amount of
improvement to do off the ground and everywhere else."
Williams will now take on Roberta Vinci of Italy, who beat Daria
Gavrilova 6-4 6-3.
Second seed Simona Halep struggled to overcome a predictably tough
examination from Angelique Kerber before prevailing 6-3 5-7 6-4.
Both players found it difficult to hold serve, with the world number
three Halep breaking the 11th ranked German's delivery nine times,
while the Romanian was broken eight times herself.
But Halep, runner-up at the French Open last year, did just enough
to eliminate the 13th seed and advance to the quarter-finals against
Agnieszka Radwanska, who beat France's Alize Cornet 6-2 4-6 6-2.
[to top of second column] |
It was a bad day for German players, with Kerber's compatriots
Sabine Lisicki and Carina Witthoeft also shown the exit door.
Swiss teenager Belinda Bencic beat Lisicki 6-1 1-6 7-3(3) in a
battle between unseeded players that lasted more than two hours.
Ukrainian Lesia Tsurenko beat Witthoeft 6-3 6-4, while Italian
Roberta Vinci took 78 minutes to dispose of Russian Daria Gavrilova
by the same score.
(Reporting by Andrew Both in Cary, North Carolina; Editing by Ian
Chadband)
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