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.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2015/Aug/14/images/ads/current/business_directory_filler.png)
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] |
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2015/Aug/14/images/ads/current/humphrey_daily_quarter_030314.png)
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)
[© 2015 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
Copyright 2015 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. |