Your inbox approves Men's coaches poll Women's coaches poll Play to win 25K!
US OPEN
Serena Williams

Serena Williams rolls ankle, still advances to US Open quarterfinals over Petra Martic

Serena Williams rolled her right ankle Sunday in the Round of 16 at the US Open, but she persisted and moved on to the quarterfinals in straight sets.

Williams toppled Petra Martic, 6-3, 6-4, under the open roof at Arthur Ashe Stadium in one hour and 31 minutes. This is Williams’ 16th appearance in the US Open quarterfinals.

Williams appeared to tweak her ankle in the middle of the match, but her play didn’t suffer. Williams eventually wore a brace to provide more stability on the ankle, but she remained aggressive and charged the net as needed.

“I just rolled it,” Williams told ESPN after the match. “I don’t know why. I was volleying and it just went over. That was a little frustrating, but I just wanted to get it compressed really fast and that’s what I did.”

Serena Williams reacts after twisting her ankle and falling near the net during her fourth-round match.

Williams took a medical timeout and received treatment on the ankle. Her coach later said Williams was in pain but called it "acceptable" pain.

Martic initially didn’t test Williams’ sensitive ankle, rarely using drop shots to make Williams run more. That changed with Martic down 40-love and down 4 games to 2 in the second set. Martic battled back and eventually hit a drop shot that changed the tempo and gave her enough momentum to eventually take the game.

FEDERER:Dominates Goffin to cruise in Round of 16

BEAUTIFUL MOMENT:Naomi Osaka comforts Coco Gauff after their match

Still, Williams persevered and remained poised. She closed the match out with one of her three aces. Williams outpaced Martic in winners 37 to 11. Williams, though, did have seven more unforced errors than Martic.

Williams said it “affected me a little mentally because I had a rough year with injuries.”

Williams will now face Qiang Wang in the quarterfinals match. Wang defeated No. 2 Ashleigh Barty on Sunday, 6-2, 6-2.

"Every single match I have played, people come and they play their best. The women that I play are not generally playing at this level against other players in the locker room, so for me, I have to be the greatest, whether it’s against the second seed, the No. 1 seed, or the No. 80th player in the world,” Williams said.

Featured Weekly Ad