Williams, Nadal Get Past Second Round In U.S. Open

Serena Williams' bid for a true Grand Slam is safe, despite an uneven performance in the US Open's second round. Overcoming 10 double faults and two dozen other unforced errors, Williams emerged with a 7-6 (5), 6-3 victory over 110th-ranked qualifier Kiki Bertens of the Netherlands at Arthur Ashe Stadium on Wednesday.

Williams got broken to fall behind 2-1 early, and Bertens served for the opening set at 5-4 before getting broken for the first time.

Then in the tiebreaker, Williams trailed 4-0 before turning things around, helped by shaky play from Bertens, who only once has made it to the third round at a major tournament in 14 appearances.

Soon after the match, Williams hit the practice court and worked on her serve, which was shaky during Wednesday's match and led to 10 double faults. Working with coach Patrick Mouratoglou, Serena took several tosses in between several short conversations with Mouratoglou.

Rafael Nadal got past the second round at this Grand Slam tournament. The 14-time major champion was pushed in the second round of the US Open on Wednesday by 74th-ranked Diego Schwartzman of Argentina but was able to pull out the victory in straight sets on a humid day. He won 7-6 (5), 6-3, 7-5 in 2 hours, 41 minutes.

Nadal, who was upset by 102nd-ranked Dustin Brown in the second round at Wimbledon, trailed 5-3 in the first-set tiebreaker but won the last four points.

Defending champion Marin Cilic is taking a quick and quiet trip through this year's US Open draw so far.

The ninth-seeded Cilic, whose only appearance in a Grand Slam final came at Flushing Meadows in 2014, reached the third round by beating Evgeny Donskoy of Russia 6-2, 6-3, 7-5.