Record-setting Serena races into US Open fourth round

New York: Serena Williams sped past another milestone Saturday as her 307th Grand slam match win took her past Martina Navratilova`s record and into the fourth round of the US Open.
Williams dominated Sweden`s Johanna Larsson 6-2, 6-1. Not only has she surpassed Navratilova for most Grand Slam wins by a woman, she`s one match victory away from surpassing Roger Federer`s mark for men.

"I was really excited to reach 307," Williams said. "It`s something I didn`t even know about until Wimbledon -- it was like a new goal. That was pretty cool for me.

"Obviously I want to keep that number going higher," added Williams, who will get her chance when she takes on Kazakhstan`s Yaroslava Shvedova for a quarter-final berth. "And what better place to do it than here where it all started," said Williams, who claimed the first of her 22 Grand Slam singles titles at the 1999 US Open.

A 23rd major triumph would take her past the Open Era record she now shares with Steffi Graf and closer to Margaret Court`s all-time record of 24. But the US superstar has been slowed by a right shoulder injury since her Wimbledon triumph.

Her world number one ranking is under threat, with both second-seeded Angelique Kerber and fourth-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska in with a chance of supplanting her before she can break Graf`s record of 186 consecutive weeks at the top.

"So far, so good," remained Williams` refrain in regards to her shoulder, which didn`t appear to trouble her in the one hour she needed to subdue Larsson.

"It was a really good match for me, because she played a different kind of game," Williams said. "It was really good for me to have a different type of rhythm and just move the ball around."

World number two Andy Murray, vying to become just the fourth man to reach all four Grand Slam finals in a calendar year, is also odds on as he goes up against Italian journeyman Paolo Lorenzi.

Lorenzi won his first ATP title at the age of 34 in Kitzbuehel in July. He`s in uncharted waters as his two victories so far this week equal his total prior wins at majors over his past 13 years as a pro.Hungarian Timea 

Babos put a scare into Romanian fifth seed Simona Halep, surging back in the second set and taking a 3-1 lead in the third before falling 6-1, 2-6, 6-4.
"I don`t know how I came back," Halep said. "I was fighting to the very end for every ball."

Having regained the break to level the third at 3-3, Halep was unable to convert two break points in the eighth game.

But Babos, unable to convert two game points in the 10th, finally surrendered with a whimper with a double fault on match point.
Halep, who fell in the semi-finals to eventual champion Flavia Pennetta last year, will play Spain`s Carla Suarez Navarro for place in the quarter-finals. 

Suarez celebrated her 28th birthday with a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Russian Elena Vesnina.
Men`s eighth seed Dominic Thiem of Austria also enjoyed a birthday win, downing Pablo Carreno Busta of Spain 1-6, 6-4, 6-4, 7-5 on the day he turned 23.

Radwanska eased into the fourth round with a 6-2, 6-3 victory over France`s Caroline Garcia. 

The Pole will duel for her first quarter-final berth at Flushing Meadows against Ana Konjuh in a rematch of a Wimbledon second-round clash in which Radwanska saved three match points before finally dispatching the Croatian.

Sixth seed Venus Williams, whose seven Grand Slam titles include US Open crowns in 2000 and 2001, opens the night session on Ashe against 26th-seeded Laura Siegemund.

Men`s third seed Stan Wawrinka takes on 64th-ranked Briton Daniel Evans while sixth-seeded Kei Nishikori, the 2014 runner-up, plays France`s Nicolas Mahut.
Nick Kyrgios, the 14th-seeded firebrand from Australia, closes the show on Ashe against Illya Marchenko a Ukrainian ranked 47 spots below him.