American Serena Williams continued her roll through the 2013 US Open last night, posting a comprehensive 6-0, 6-0 victory over the 18th seed, Carla Suarez Navarro. I'm not sure that "coasted to victory" is quite the right term for Serena's performance, as she seemed dialed in and certainly didn't take her foot off the gas pedal. Suarez Navarro was just never really able to muster much of a challenge, winning just 18 total points. She managed to get break points on Serena's serve only twice—both in the second set—and lost both.
While it's good to see Serena continue her dominance, I have to admit that I started to feel a little bad for Suarez Navarro. I think it's tough to watch anyone lose such a one-sided affair, especially considering how hard these players work to get to the top of the games. It's a little hard to tell during such a devastating loss, but Suarez Navarro is really a good player—earlier this year she was as high as 18th in the world and is currently sitting at 20th. Admittedly, I think she's probably a little better on clay, but still, you don't get to be ranked that highly by accident. Making a Grand Slam quarterfinal is no mean feat either, and Suarez Navarro had to beat a few good players—Jie Zheng and Angelique Kerber—in the previous two rounds to get there.
I think a lot of fans have just sort of gotten used to Serena's dominant play and take it for granted. I'm as guilty as anyone, but truthfully, performance's like last night's aren't all that common. A 6-0 set is pretty difficult to pull off in the pro game and 6-0, 6-0 is even tougher. How tough, you say? Well, Serena's 6-0, 6-0 victory over Suarez Navarro was the first "double bagel" in a US Open women's quarterfinal since Navratilova did it in 1989. 1989! In total the match took just 52 minutes.
It's certainly good news for Serena and her fans. She's looked strong throughout the tournament and so far hasn't really been pushed. Right now, I can't see anyone challenging her in her bid for another Slam title.
The slightly ironic footnote is that Suarez Navarro was also knocked out of the doubles by—you guessed it—Serena and Venus Williams.
Serena Williams Remains Victorious
