Serena Williams Cruises by Anastasija Sevastova to Advance to 2018 US Open Final

No. 17 Serena Williams waltzed into the U.S. Open final with a 6-3, 6-0 semifinal win over No. 19 Anastasija Sevastova at Arthur Ashe Stadium in Flushing Meadows, New York, on Thursday night. 

Willams is now headed to her first U.S. Open final since 2014 after bowing out in the semis in 2015 and 2016. She will square off against No. 14 Madison Keys or No. 20 Naomi Osaka on Saturday afternoon. 

Williams dropped the first two games after Sevastova consolidated an early break, and it briefly appeared as though it would be a long night for the 23-time Grand Slam champion. 

However, Williams squashed those notions in short order and won six of the next seven games to close out the first set in exceptional fashion. Williams finished the opening frame with a 16-7 edge to overcome 13 unforced errors during that same stretch. 

Serena kept her foot on the gas in the second set, and she sprinkled in some stellar net play to send Sevastova packing. All told, Williams won 24 of 28 points at the net while her opponent managed to go 3-of-6. 

The surgical effort also saw Serena log an average first-serve speed of 106 mph and win 75 percent of the points on those blistering efforts.

Williams—who has still only dropped one set at the U.S. Open (Round 4 vs. Kaia Kanepi)—will now set her sights on Keys or Osaka. 

If it winds up being an All-American affair, Williams will look to move to 4-0 lifetime against Keys. Their lone meeting at the U.S. Open came in 2015 when Williams downed Keys 6-3, 6-3 in the Round of 16. 

Conversely, Williams lost her lone tilt with Osaka earlier this year when the 20-year-old stunned her 6-3, 6-2 in Miami. 

Expect Serena to be in search of vengeance if she meets Osaka again.