Serena Williams scraped past an impressive Bethanie Mattek-Sands at the U.S. Open on Friday, keeping her Grand Slam bid alive.
After losing the first set and being pushed throughout the second, Williams finally broke Mattek-Sands' resolve in the third, blitzing her fellow American to win 3-6, 7-5, 6-0 in 1 hour, 51 minutes at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
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Williams appeared nonchalant after the match, saying her march to victory in the Wimbledon final, her fourth consecutive major title over the past two years, was more nerve-wracking.
"I wasn't nervous at all, it's just the second round. From (a U.S. Open prep tournament in) Cincinnati (onward), I (have) felt good. I mean, I don't have to win this event. It's not the end of the world for me," Williams told a news conference.
"I told you getting to Wimbledon and winning the Serena Slam — that really meant a lot to me. That tournament I felt on the edge a lot. This one I don't feel that way. I think other people feel that way more than I do, but I don't feel like I need that more than anything."
Williams knows she can become the first player since Steffi Graf in 1988 to complete the Grand Slam, but at the same time she's trying to downplay the accomplishment.
"I mean, of course it's there," she said. "I'm not a robot or anything. But at the end of the day I'm just here to do the best I can.
"If that means I win, then great. But if it doesn't, then you know what? I can't let that affect me because I still have other tournaments to play."
Friday's result could have been a lot different after Mattek-Sands capitalized on an out-of-sorts Williams in the opening set, in which Williams produced 14 unforced errors.
Williams, the defending champion, held serve to begin the second set and looked to be improving, although she failed to convert five break points before eventually breaking Mattek-Sands in the eighth game.
Serving for the set, Williams surged to 30-0 but then stalled, with two double-faults handing her resurgent compatriot the immediate break back, with Mattek-Sands then holding to level at 5-5.
Mattek-Sands, the No. 101-ranked player in the world, saw her dream of victory evaporate from there with Williams holding to love and then converting her third set point to send the match into a deciding set.
Although she was frustrated with a cameraman getting too close between the second and third set, Williams came out firing, winning the final set in 25 minutes.
Williams, who moved to 49-2 this year with the victory, will take on Madison Keys in the fourth round Sunday. The meeting will be a rematch of their Australian Open semifinal in January.
"(Keys) runs around and hits forehands a lot. I tend to run around and hit backhands, which is just odd . . . we both have good serves," Williams said in her scouting report of Keys. "She does everything really well. She has a good return. She has a heavy shot. She's moving well. So she does everything really well."