Williams Easy Fourth-Round Winner at U.S. Open

Five-time champion Serena Williams was an easy fourth-round winner Monday at the  U.S. Open.  The world No. 1 superstar won her 18th straight match in New York  and reached her first Grand Slam quarterfinal of 2014 with a workmanlike 6-3, 6-3 handling of Estonian slugger Kaia Kanepi in 64  minutes at  Ashe Stadium on Labor Day in the United States.

Williams' quarterfinal opponent will be 11th-seeded Italian Flavia Pennetta, who opened Monday with a 7-5, 6-2 victory over 29th-seeded Aussie Casey Dellacqua. Also on Monday, 17th-seeded Russian Ekaterina Makarova ousted seventh-seeded Canadian  star Eugenie Bouchard 7-6  (7-2), 6-4 and 16th-seeded Victoria Azarenka snuck past Aleksandra Krunic 4-6, 6-4, 6-4.

No. 1 Novak Djokovic beat Philipp Kohlschreiber and No. 8 Andy Murray topped ninth-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, both in straight sets, to open the fourth round on the men's side. Australian Open champion Stan Wawrinka secured his spot in the quarterfinals with a 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (9-7), 6-2 victory over 16th- seeded Tommy Robredo of Spain.

Up next for Wawrinka is 10th-seeded Kei Nishikori of Japan, who outlasted fifth-seeded Canadian Milos Raonic 4-6, 7-6 (7-4), 6-7 (6-8), 7-5, 6-4 in the night match that ended at 2:26 a.m. Tuesday morning. The match, which lasted over four hours, tied the record for the latest finish in U.S. Open history.