Summary Marin Cilic and David Ferrer reached the third round of US Open on Wednesday.
NEW YORK (AFP) - Serena Williams prepared to resume her chase of tennis history Wednesday at the US Open while defending champion Marin Cilic and seventh seed David Ferrer moved closer to a fourth-round meeting.
Croatian ninth seed Cilic, trying to become the first repeat men s champion since Roger Federer ran off five in a row from 2004-2008, fired 19 aces and advanced to the third round by defeating 139th-ranked Russian qualifier Evgeny Donskoy 6-2, 6-3, 7-5 at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
"This court is very special to me. It brings such positive memories," Cilic said.
"It s sort of unreal. I was working all my life to win a Grand Slam and now I m working to defend one.
"I m taking every day as a positive on the court and hoping I can go forward. I was serving pretty good today. I was pretty solid when it counted."
Spain s Ferrer, the 2013 French Open runner-up who missed the past 2 1/2 months with an elbow injury, downed 102nd-ranked Serb Filip Krajinovic 7-5, 7-5, 7-6 (7/4).
"I m very happy I m in the third round," said Ferrer. "It s a nice comeback playing on these courts. It s not easy. Conditions are very difficult with this humidity."
Ferrer next meets French 27th seed Jeremy Chardy next while Cilic plays either Bulgarian 17th seed Grigor Dimitrov or Kazakhstan s Mikhail Kukushkin.
But early matches were overshadowed by the extra attention surrounding the afternoon feature on Arthur Ashe Stadium as world number one Williams was set to face 110th-ranked Dutch qualifier Kiki Bertens.
Three-time defending champion Williams is trying to complete the first calendar Grand Slam since Steffi Graf in 1988 and equal Graf s Open Era record of 22 Slam singles titles, two shy of Australian Margaret Court s all-time record.
Williams completed her second "Serena Slam" of four major wins in a row by winning the Wimbledon crown in July and the 33-year-old American can claim her Open Era-record seventh US Open title as well as extend her mark as the oldest woman Slam champion.
With three top-10 seeds on Serena s side of the draw losing their openers and third seed Maria Sharapova withdrawing due to injury, Williams could reach a Grand Slam singles final without facing a top-10 rival for the first time in her career.
Swiss teen Belinda Bencic, the highest seed remaining in Williams half of the draw at 12, faces Japan s 88th-ranked Misaki Doi later.
Bencic, who defeated Williams in the Toronto semi-finals last month, could have a third-round meeting with Serena s older sister, Venus, who meets fellow American Irina Falconi later at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Either Bencic, 18, or Venus, 35, could meet Serena in the quarter-finals.
Australian Open semi-finalist Madison Keys ripped 100th-ranked Czech Tereza Smitkova 6-1, 6-2.
The American 19th seed reached the US Open third round for the first time and hopes for a fourth-round date with Serena Williams, who ousted her in Australia.
"Fingers crossed it could happen. If it does happen I could come out and have some fun at my home Slam," Keys said.
"It s so special to get as far as I ve ever been at this Open. I m excited and I hope to keep it going."
Another seed in Williams s quarter fell as Russian 31st seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova lost 7-5, 6-4 to Estonian qualifier Anett Kontaveit.
Top-ranked Novak Djokovic, the reigning Wimbledon and Australian Open champion, tries to take another step toward his fifth US Open final in six tries later against Austrian Andreas Haider-Maurer.
Djokovic, whose lone US Open title came in 2011, is on a quarter-final collision course with 14-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal, the Spanish eighth seed who faces Argentina s Diego Schwartzman in a later match.
Nadal, who won the 2013 US Open but did not play last year due to a wrist injury, would face Italy s Fabio Fognini in the third round if he gets past the South American.
American Mardy Fish was sent into retirement by Spanish 18th seed Feliciano Lopez, who rallied to win 2-6, 6-3, 1-6, 7-5, 6-3 after three hours and 11 minutes. Fish was nagged by cramps at the end.
"He was a better player," Lopez said. "I think he really deserved the win today."
