NEW YORK — At 10:21 a.m. on Friday, Serena Williams tweeted “Keep it going. #onamission.”
Almost 11 hours and three emotional sets later, it was, finally, mission accomplished.
Serena Williams won her third-round match against 30-year-old fellow American Bethanie Mattek-Sands 3-6, 7-5, 6-0 under the lights on Arthur Ashe Stadium court to the delight of a sellout crowd.
Now she marches on, four matches away from achieving the calendar year Grand Slam and her seventh career U.S. Open title. The last time the world No. 1 lost at the Open was in the 2011 final against Sam Stosur.