|
What happened? |
|
In what some thought
might be a test for the No. 3 seed turned into a lopsided affair in
favor of Serena. After shedding her knee-high black boots, Serena
overpowered Schnyder, running around her backhand and cranking
cross-court forehands, and firing nine first-set aces. |
It looked for a little
while as if the No. 15 seed would make a match of it until a break
in the fifth game of the first set. Schnyder's forehands appeared to
travel at fractions of the speed that were coming back at her, and
in the second set Williams stepped up her game, ultimately blowing
Schnyder off Arthur Ashe Stadium in under an hour.. |
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Turning point? |
|
Serena broke Schnyder
three times and did not give up her own serve, but just one of those
breaks came in the first set, and it changed the tone of the match.
Trading holds and staying on serve at 2-2, Williams converted on her
second break opportunity and it seemed to pick up her game to
another level. |
Schnyder had just one
break-point opportunity, and it came early in the match, before
Serena's first break where she turned the match upside down. In
Serena's very first service game, Schnyder had a chance to really
put the screws to the American, but was unable to convert and apply
the pressure. Those windows don't stay open very long when you are
playing Serena. |
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Stat of the match |
|
Serena didn't play a
perfect match, but she did score very well on her second serve,
winning 8 out of 12 points. |
Schnyder went to the
net just three times, winning points twice. She also had just one
ace all match to go with two double faults. |
|
What's next? |
|
Serena sits back and
waits to see who her quarterfinal opponent will be, as No. 8
Jennifer Capriati tangos with No. 12 Ai Sugiyama tonight on Arthur
Ashe Stadium. |
Schnyder has very
little time to stew over this loss, as she is still very much alive
in doubles with Barbara Schett. As the No. 12 seeds, they will play
Mashona Washington and Jennifer Hopkins later today on Court 11. |
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View from the crowd |
|
Many of the fans who
had come to this Sunday afternoon match had to be hoping to enjoy a
close battle, but they'll have to either root for Capriati to be
waiting in the quarterfinals, or wait for a potential semifinal
showdown with Amelie Mauresmo. |
This was Schnyder's
chance to repeat her magical run in 1998, when she reached the
quarterfinals after upsets over No. 8 Steffi Graf and No. 3 Jana
Novotna. However, this fourth- round finish is her second best in
eight straight appearances. |
