EW YORK — For eight intense, entertaining games, Sloane Stephens stayed right with Serena Williams. For a 40-minute stretch in the fourth round of the US Open, the top two American women put on quite a show. Both hit serves topping 115 mph. Both whipped groundstrokes to the corners. Both covered a lot of ground, extending points with leg-churning defense. Both showed the occasional sign of nerves, reflecting what a big deal this was, in part because the 15th-seeded Stephens already was one of only three players to beat No. 1 Williams this season. Until, that is, the score was 4-all in the first set Sunday. That’s when Williams took over.The 20-year-old Stephens’ time at the top of tennis may come. For now, the 31-year-old Williams is still as good as it gets. Taking eight of the last nine games, defending champion Williams returned to the quarterfinals at Flushing Meadows by beating Stephens 6-4, 6-1.
“When you give her that opportunity to take that step forward, she definitely makes her move,” Stephens said. “Unfortunately, today she made her move. I just couldn’t get back in.” Still, all in all, it was remarkably compelling and, within individual points, rather evenly played for what turned out to be such a runaway. “I definitely think it was a high-quality match,” said Williams, 64-4 with eight titles this year. “We both came out today to play.”