Serena Secures 70th Win; Wozniacki Wears Down Stephens in Beijing

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Serena Secures 70th Win; Wozniacki Wears Down Stephens in Beijing

By Erik Gudris / Thursday, October 3, 2013

Serena Williams scratched past Maria Kirilenko to claim her 70th win of the season in Beijing. Next up is Caroline Wozniacki, who beat Sloane Stephens.

Photo Credit: AP

Top seed Serena Williams continues to battle in her matches at the China Open. But the world No. 1 once again came out ahead to not only reach the quarterfinals, but also secure a notable milestone of 70 wins this season.

Taking on Russia's Maria Kirilenko in the third round, it was Kirilenko who broke first in the match and soon served for the opening set up 5-4. But despite Kirilenko being up 40-0 and having three set points, Williams roared back to take the game. Williams soon took the set 7-5 thanks to a Kirilenko double fault.

Once again Kirilenko found herself up an early break in the second set and led 4-2. But Williams broke back to level the set. Kirilenko served when down 5-6 to force a tiebreak. But after having saved three match points against her, Kirilenko struck a backhand just wide, allowing Williams to close out the 7-5, 7-5 victory.

Since Williams turned pro in 1995, only five other women have earned 70 or more wins in a year, including Kim Clijsters, Justine Henin, Martina Hingis and Jelena Jankovic.

Wozniacki's Defense Too Much For Stephens

In the night session, 2010 China Open champion Caroline Wozniacki took on American Sloane Stephens in a third round match that, at least at the start, looked to fulfill its earlier hype.

With both women matching each other from the baseline with penetrating groundstrokes, it took nearly an hour before Wozniacki claimed the first break of the match on her ninth break point opportunity. Stephens responded by breaking right back to keep the set on serve at 4-3.

But even after receiving an encouraging pep talk from her coach David Nainkin, Stephens seemed to lose focus as she dropped serve in the next game. A slew of unnecessary errors from Stephens, even from her favorite forehand wing, allowed Wozniacki to pocket the opening set 6-3.

Wozniacki broke Stephens at love to open the second set after the American sent yet another forehand wide. Though Stephens was able to hold her own in the many rallies with Wozniacki, she never seemed confident or willing to take control of the match.

Stephens finally got on the board at 1-4 with a forehand blast down the line. But winners from Stephens were too few as she soon racked up a glaring 51 total unforced errors near the end. Down match point, a half-hearted drop shot attempt from Stephens set up an easy forehand winner for Wozniacki, who claimed the 6-3, 6-1 win in just under two hours.

Wozniacki will now face Williams in the quarters having lost their last meeting at the Summer Games in London last year.

The remaining quarterfinals were set on Thursday with Agnieszka Radwanska facing Angelique Kerber while Jelena Jankovic meets Lucie Safarova.

Follow Erik Gudris on Twitter @ATNtennis