Serena, Azarenka In; Ivanovic Out

Serena Willams

Five-time US Open champion Serena Williams swept into the third round on Thursday with a 6-1, 6-0 thrashing of fellow American Vania King.
Unperturbed by the wind swirling in Arthur Ashe Stadium, Williams took another step toward a third straight title in Flushing Meadows.
The only woman to win at three straight US titles in the Open era was Chris Evert, who won four from 1975-78.
Williams needed just 56 minutes to dismantle the 25-year-old, 81st-ranked King, but insisted it wasn't easy.
"It's so hard to play in the wind," said Williams, who nevertheless came up with 25 winners against 15 unforced errors in the 56-minute contest.
Three of her five double faults came in her first service game of the match as she adjusted to the conditions.
"Especially one side's a little harder, it makes your serve different," she said. "Getting through that game was really important. You have to be able to adjust."
Although Williams has won five WTA titles this year, 2014 has been a substandard season in terms of Grand Slam results.
She has not only failed to add to her 17 Grand Slam titles, she has failed to get past the fourth round at any of the year's three prior majors.
She'll try to take another step toward filling that gap on her season record when she faces her third straight American opponent, Varvara Lepchenko, for a place in the last 16.
IVANOVIC EXITS

Former world number one Ana Ivanovic became the second top 10 seed to suffer a shock early exit when she was knocked out by Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic.
Ivanovic, the eighth seed, lost 7-5, 6-4 to the 42nd-ranked Pliskova who has reached the third round at a major for the first time.
Ivanovic came into New York as a potential title contender having captured trophies at Auckland, Monterrey and Birmingham this year while returning to the top ten for the first time in five years.
But the former French Open champion was undone on Thursday by 29 unforced errors while facing 13 break points as she crashed to her earliest exit in New York in six years.
"I played a good match, the best of the year," said 22-year-old Pliskova whose twin sister Krystina also played the main draw this year.
"I didn't really have a strategy. I just played my game, focussed on myself and I did it," added the slender Czech who sports a pair of colourful tattoos on her left upper arm and left thigh.
The Serb followed fourth-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska out of the tournament after the Pole had been beaten by Peng Shuai 24 hours earlier.
AZARENKA BACK IN THE GROOVE
Former world number one Victoria Azarenka is ready to put a season of injury behind her, and where better to start than the US Open.
Azarenka was a finalist at Flushing Meadows the past two years, falling both times to Serena Williams.
But the Belarusian's 16th seeding this year is the lowest it's ever been at the tournament -- a sign of the struggles with foot and knee injuries that have cost her much of the season.
She's through to the third round however, following up a scrappy three-set win over Japan's Misaki Doi with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over 44th-ranked American Christina McHale.
Azarenka had her troubles against McHale. After losing the first three games she won nine on the trot to take control, but she wasted a match-point as she tried to serve it out at 5-1 in the second.
After dropping her serve, she broke McHale in the next game, sealing the win with a forehand winner.
Azarenka has fallen out of the top 10 for the first time since September of 2010. Now ranked 17th, she's even in danger of slipping out of the top 20 for the first time since 2008, unless she reaches the semifinals next week.
But the 25-year-old is tired of talking about her fitness and her frustrations.
"I just want to talk about the positive things and what I got out of that (injury absence)," she said.
One unlikely positive?
"I had no idea how to spread my toes," she said, adding that when she mastered the move that should help protect her feet "I went running like crazy down the hallway at my physio's office.
"We even opened a bottle of champagne for that," she added.
The enforced absence also let her "take a step back" and think about her long-term goals. One thing she realized, her love for tennis remains strong.
"Not knowing when I would be able to play, that was the hardest part," Azarenka said.
Also going through to the third round early on Thursday was veteran Italian Flavia Pennetta, one of 15 players aged 30 years or older in the draw, who was a semifinalist in 2013.
By SuperSports