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Serena Williams of the United States shakes her fist after defeating Qiang Wang of China in the quarterfinals of the Open American Tennis Tournament on Tuesday, September 3, 2019 in New York. Williams won 6-1, 6-0. (AP Photo / Charles Krupa)
The numbers associated with Serena Williams' quarter-final victory against Wang Qiang in the United States were so low that they deserve to be read more than once.
Winners: 25-0. Points: 50-15. Minutes: 44. Score: 6-1, 6-0.
This is the part of the tournament that is supposed to be where winning a Grand Slam title becomes difficult, where the remaining players are some of the best opponents of the moment. And yet, there was Williams at Arthur Ashe Stadium Tuesday night, making that one of the last eight women in the draw, a ranked No. 18 on a world of billions, seems completely out of date.
"I have not given him too many opportunities," Williams said.
A reporter wanted to know what surprised Wang most of his first experience at Williams.
"Power," came the answer.
The way she hit the bottom line baseline? The way she served?
"All," Wang said with a smile.
Seeming as dominant as possible as she approached a 24th Grand Slam singles trophy and a seventh US Open championship title, Williams was not at all troubled by the right ankle she had rolled during from his previous match.
"Physically, I feel very good," Williams said, "and more than anything, I enjoy each time I come here."
Roger Federer followed him into Ashe and did not have a good time. She had back and neck problems while letting out tracks against a guy he'd never lost, who bowed out in the quarter-finals 3-6, 6-4, 3 – 6, 6-4, 6-2 against Grigor Dimitrov, ranked 78th.
"Simply disappointed, it's over, because I felt I was playing very well," said Federer, who said he began having physical problems Tuesday afternoon, before taking a medical break before fifth set. "A missed opportunity, to some extent."
Federer, seeded third, joined defending champion and No. 1 seed Novak Djokovic on the sidelines less than two months after their epic final at Wimbledon. Djokovic retired from his fourth round match at the American Open due to a left shoulder pain.
Dimitrov will play number 5 Daniil Medvedev in semifinal on Friday.
Medvedev reached his first Grand Slam semifinal by eliminating 12 double faults and a problem with the left thigh to defeat the three-time major champion Stan Wawrinka 7-6 (6), 6-3, 3-6, 6-1.
Against Wang, who made his debut in a major quarter-final, Williams won the first five games in about 15 minutes. Then, after losing a game, Williams had the following 11 points to start a seven-part run down the road.
She controlled just about everything from the beginning, no matter if she was serving or coming back. She hit the ball tightly, pushing Wang and seldom getting in position for a correct answer. Williams was so excited that there was not much opportunity to test her ankle, but in the rare cases where she needed to run, she seemed more than adequate.
This is one of the main reasons why Wang could not handle a single winner.
"Yeah, that's a good statistic for me, it's good because I want to be able to move around the yard, I move when I want to move," Williams said. "I guess I wanted to move tonight."
It was her 100th win at the American Open, which dates back to her debut in 1998, when she was a teenager.
"Since I started here … I never thought I would turn 100. I did not even think I would be here again," said Williams, who will have 38 years this month. "But I love what I do."
The American will face the Ukrainian Elina Svitolina (5th) for a place in the final. Svitolina eliminated Johanna Konta (16th), from Great Britain, 6-4, 6-4 earlier on Tuesday.
"She gets a lot of balls, she does not make a lot of mistakes," Williams said of Svitolina, who beat her at the Rio 2016 Olympics. who does everything very well, so I have everything right too. "
Along with his boyfriend, Gael Monfils, in the stands, Svitolina has qualified for the semifinals of a second consecutive major tournament, having never been that far before.
"Now," Svitolina joked about Monfils, "he needs to improve his game."
Monfils, seeded number 13, will face Wednesday Matteo Berrettini, number 24, in the quarterfinals, when Rafael Nadal will meet number 20, Diego Schwartzman. The women on the program Wednesday: Belinda Bencic (No. 13) against Donna Vekic and Bianca Andreescu against Elise Mertens (No. 25).
To say that Williams was the big favorite before embarking on this stage of the two-week tournament would be a huge understatement.
Williams was not only the only one of the eight quarter-finals ever to win a singles title in the Grand Slam, but she was also the only one to have reached a major final before.
While Williams reached his 38th career Slam semifinal by beating Wang, the other seven quarter-finalists had taken part in a combined total of five semifinals, scoring 0-5 in those matches.
"Really great player," Wang said. "She's just great."
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