Serena Williams Holds off Maria Sakkari, Advances to US Open Quarterfinals

Seth Wenig/Associated Press

Serena Williams has made it into the quarterfinals of the 2020 U.S. Open after her 6-3, 6-7, 6-3 win over Maria Sakkari.  

The No. 3 seed leaned on her serve to survive the back-and-forth battle that lasted two hours and 27 minutes, finishing with 12 aces in Monday's three-set win at Arthur Ashe Stadium.

ESPN @espn

Heart of champion!

Serena prevails in three sets to advance to the quarterfinals. She becomes the first male or female to win 100 matches in Arthur Ashe Stadium 🐐 https://t.co/o4n304OyHl

Williams dropped a set for the second round in a row but once again was able to come through late despite trailing by two games in the third set. She also attacked the second serve defensively, holding Sakkari to just 48 percent on second serves.

It helped her reach the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open for the 11th straight time dating back to 2007, putting her one step closer to her 24th career Grand Slam title.

Sakkari, the No. 15 seed, had been seeking her first Grand Slam quarterfinal appearance before losing in Round 4. She had beaten Williams last month at the Western & Southern Open but was unable to do it again on the bigger stage.

The first set in Monday's match began with both women holding their serve for several games. The drama picked up when Williams trailed 0-40 on her serve but saved three straight break points and eventually earned the hold.

One game later, the American earned her first break in impressive fashion:

US Open Tennis @usopen

Serena's crushing the ball on Ashe 🚀 https://t.co/TfOYQ4mZMG

US Open Tennis @usopen

Serena gets the break! Up 4-2 on Ashe. https://t.co/nX7UiP7l7D

That was all she needed to pull away for a 6-3 victory.

USTA @usta

Oh. My. 😱

Serena serves it out with a HUGE second serve to go up a set!

#USOpen | @serenawilliams https://t.co/RUUnmgYHSL

Jon Wertheim @jon_wertheim

Serena Williams, age 38.9, doing a mean impersonation of Serena Williams, age 28.9 (or 18.9 for that matter)

The second set featured some long points, with each competitor eventually figuring out ways to hold their serve.

US Open Tennis @usopen

Sakk Attack 💪

@mariasakkari has come to play in Set #2️⃣ https://t.co/Ml0P2Zp1Qp

US Open Tennis @usopen

GOODNESS 😳

@serenawilliams | #USOpen https://t.co/69v1duTpqk

Neither player even faced a break point in the set until the 12th game, and the set went to a tiebreak.

Williams showed resolve to fight back from a 4-0 deficit to even the score at 6-6, but it was the Greek who came away with the win to force a third set.

espnW @espnW

Maria Sakkari holds on to win the 2nd-set tiebreak against Serena!

The deciding set is live on ESPN now 🍿 https://t.co/6CPxZfRv0R

The 25-year-old kept the momentum in the third set, forcing her first break of the match in the first game before taking a 2-0 lead. Things shifted back to Williams, who evened up the score.

The match was eventually decided by a break for Williams to go up 5-3 before closing things out with her serve:

US Open Tennis @usopen

And @serenawilliams gets the break!

Can she finish it off here? https://t.co/UTufHvIcwN

She will now face the winner of Alize Cornet and Tsvetana Pironkova in the quarterfinals. Though No. 1 seed Karolina Pliskova was eliminated from this tournament early, No. 2 Sofia Kenin looms later in the draw, and several other top contenders capable of winning it all.

Williams is clearly a favorite to bring home a title, but must continue to perform at this high level through the next three rounds.