By Richard Pagliaro | Monday, May 5, 2015

 

Serena Williams won eight straight games breezing by Sloane Stephens, 6-4, 6-0, to raise her 2015 record to 22-0.

Photo credit: Mutua Madrid Open

A sudden gust of wind blew a sheet of red clay across the court midway through the opening set.

Swaying side-to-side, Serena Williams smoothed the bottom of her skirt and stared right through the swirling red haze ready to get back to business.

Neither spiking turbulence nor a speedy Sloane Stephens could slow Williams's roll today.

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Striking with conviction, Williams stormed through seven straight games breezing by Stephens, 6-4, 6-0, to reach the Madrid Open round of 16 and raise her 2015 record to 22-0.

The world No. 1 continues to operate like a competitive force of nature.

Williams has now won 59 of her last 62 clay-court matches. She could face Victoria Azarenka in a battle of former world No. 1 players next.

Azarenka, who knocked out 16th-seeded Venus Williams, 6-4, 7-5, in round one, faces 61st-ranked Ajla Tomljanovic on Tuesday. The winner will face Williams for a quarterfinal spot.

Given the tricky conditions today — as temperatures dropped a mischievious wind arose to blow the ball around — that quality of ball striking from both women was solid at the outset.

The top seed broke in the opening game of both sets to take charge.

The 38th-ranked Stephens won the toss, elected to serve and quickly fell into triple break point. She saved all three break points only to commit two errors in a row and drop serve.

Williams's footwork and forehand were both sharp from the start. A wide serve set up a forehand swing volley winner as she backed up the break for 2-0.

Athletcism and ball-control ability on the move are assets that can take Stephens a long way if she learns how to employ them.

Serving at 2-4, Stephens sped to her right to dig out a return then sprinted back to her left and flicked a rainbow lob winner that drew applause from Williams. Stephens slid an ace down the middle sealing a love hold for 3-4.

Serving for the set, Williams used her versatility on serve kicking second serve with confounding spin to draw the return error for double-set point. She needed only one. Attacking net behind a backhand swing volley, Williams exposed a wide expanse of court, but Stephens missed the open court backhand down the line. The world No. 1 wrapped up a strong set in 34 minutes.

Williams showed why she's one of the best front-runners you'll see racing through the early stages of the second set to put Stephens in the rear-view mirror.

A crackling return set up a forehand crosscourt that drew a sliding defensive error from Stephens as Williams broke for 1-0. The top seeded whipped aces wide to open and close the second game then torched the Stephens serve with a pair of return winners. When the dust had settled, Williams had won eight of nine points to extend the lead to 3-0.

The fourth game was the last time Stephens made much noise, earning double break point.

Throughout the match, Williams created sharp angles with the slice serve wide to set up her first strike. She shrewdly returned to that pattern, hitting a pair of wide serves to erase both break points, eventually holding for 4-0.

The top seed ravaged the Stephens's serve in the second set, winning 12 of 16 points played on Stephens's serve and breaking three times in a row in an impressive 59-minute rout.