Serena speeds through as Wawrinka, Murray battle into last 16

The tantalizing prospect of a semi-final clash between Williams and her sister Venus evaporated as the elder Williams fell to hard-hitting Czech Karolina Pliskova 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7/3).

Williams, who gave Beyonce a glowing introduction at the MTV VMAs and appeared in her Lemonade video, hosted the power couple in her own box. “I had to play better, to be a little bit more aggressive”, – Wawrinka after his battle with Evans.

“Obviously I want to keep that number going higher”, added Serena, who will get her chance when she takes on Kazakhstan’s Yaroslava Shvedova for a quarterfinal berth.

But in windy conditions Monday, the sixth-seeded Nishikori was the player with the more effective serve.

Thiem recovered from a slow start to see off Pablo Carreno Busta 1-6 6-4 6-4 7-5, while Karlovic defeated American teenager Jared Donaldson 6-4 7-6 (7-3) 6-3. He needed to save two set points in the third before racing to a 6-0 lead in the final tiebreaker.

Williams, holding another service break in hand in the second set, soon served for the match just after the one hour mark. Konjuh accidentally stepped on a ball and injured her right ankle in the next-to-last game of the 2-6, 6-4, 9-7 loss.

There are more major milestones to be had if Williams can reach the winner’s circle again on September 10. The 22-time major champ plays Yaroslava Shvedova later in the day. The last time she lost to a player outside the top 50 at a Grand Slam was to No. 111 Virginie Razzano at the 2012 French Open, after which she started working with coach Patrick Mouratoglo.

The 34-year-old will now meet Romanian fifth seed Simona Halep in the quarter-final after she dispatched Spain’s Carla Suarez Navarro 6-2, 7-5.

Juan Martin Del Potro has been handed a wild card into next month’s Shanghai Masters.

On Saturday, Serena Williams sped past another milestone en route to the US Open fourth round as men’s contenders Andy Murray and Stan Wawrinka clawed their way into the last 16.

He takes on eighth-seeded Dominic Thiem, who turned 23 on Saturday and is grappling with the wear and tear of a long season.

Del Potro came onto Arthur Ashe Stadium on Monday and pointed to an Argentine flag in the stands.

Now the 22nd-seeded Dimitrov is in the round of 16 at a major for the first time since the 2015 Australian Open. He’s played just 10-plus sets through four rounds.