2:11 PM ET
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ESPN News Services
NEW YORK — Serena Williams was not troubled one bit by the right ankle she rolled in her previous match. Didn’t get much resistance from her opponent, either.
Looking as dominant as can be, Williams moved just fine and powered her way into the US Open semifinals by overwhelming 18th-seeded Qiang Wang of China 6-1, 6-0 in a mere 44 minutes Tuesday night to move closer to a 24th Grand Slam singles trophy.
Williams had rolled her ankle during her fourth-round match but never showed any signs that it was an issue.
“Physically, I’m feeling great,” Williams said, “and more than anything, I’m having fun every time I come out here.”
Why shouldn’t she? When she plays like this, it’s hard to imagine anyone else ending up with the championship Saturday.
Williams grabbed the first five games in about 15 minutes. Then, after dropping one game, Williams collected the next 11 points in a row and every remaining game.
Just one indication of how lopsided this was: Williams finished with 25 winners to zero for Wang, who was playing in her first major quarterfinal. One other: The total points were 50-15.
Williams collected her 100th singles victory at Flushing Meadows, where she is a six-time champion.
“From when I first started here … I never thought that I would get to 100. Didn’t even cross my mind I would still be out here,” said Williams who turns 38 later this month. “But I love what I do.”
The American will face No. 5 seed Elina Svitolina of Ukraine for a berth in the final. Svitolina eliminated 16th-seeded Johanna Konta of Britain 6-4, 6-4 earlier Tuesday.
“She’s had a great year, as well,” Williams said. “I feel like she wants to go one further this time, so I have to be able to come out again and play really well.”
With her boyfriend, Gael Monfils, watching in the stands, a day before he plays his quarterfinal, Svitolina got to the semifinals at a second consecutive major tournament after never having been that far before.
“Now,” Svitolina joked about Monfils, “he needs to step up his game.”
Svitolina and Konta exchanged three consecutive breaks of serve in the second set, before Svitolina ended that streak by holding for a 5-3 lead when Konta dumped a volley into the net.
It was part of a mistake-filled performance by Konta, who was trying to become the sixth active player to reach the semifinals in all four Grand Slam tournaments.
But the British player committed 35 unforced errors to Svitolina’s 13, including a whopping 20-5 margin in the second set, and fell to 0-5 against the Ukrainian.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
