US Open Tennis 2011 Results: Serena Williams vs Ana Ivanovic Score and Analysis

Serena Williams entered the fourth round of the U.S. Open on a roll. She had dispatched each of her first three opponents in straight sets, and had looked very good doing so.

But Serena had to know as well as anyone that Ana Ivanovic wasn't going to make it easy for her on Monday. The former world No. 1 had also looked good in her climb to the Round of 16, and she certainly had the goods to stop Serena's run at Flushing Meadows once and for all.

But did she?

For the answer to that question, you must read on.

Result

In the early goings, it looked like Serena's match against Ivanovic was going to be yet another cake walk. She jetted out to a 3-1 lead in the first set—a fast start that had a lot to do with Ivanovic's struggles with her serve.

But the 23-year-old Serbian battled back. She managed to corral her serve, and would tie the first set at 3-3. When she did, it looked like the crowd at Arthur Ashe Stadium was in for a shootout.

But nope. Serena took the next three games to take the first set 6-3. After breaking Ivanovic early in the second set, she was able to wrap it up 6-4.

The end result was another win in straight sets for Serena, this one 6-3, 6-4.

Storyline

While not quite as dominant as her first couple of victories at Flushing Meadows, there's still plenty to be encouraged about concerning Serena's defeat of Ivanovic. It wasn't the cakewalk it could have been, but at the end of the day Serena won because she played a much cleaner game.

All you have to do is look at the stat sheet. Serena had just one double fault to Ivanovich's eight, and she had just 14 unforced errors to Ivanovich's 29.

The point is debatable, but much of this seemed to be caused by the fact that Ivanovich just plain looked uncomfortable. That could have been due to the windy weather, but it could more likely be chalked up to intimidation.

If so, that's even further evidence that Serena is back to being her old self.

Next Up for Serena Williams

With Ivanovic out of the way, Serena now gets to face Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, the No. 17 seed, in the quarterfinals.

This is another tough draw for Serena, the No. 28 seed. She was able to take out the 16th-seeded Ivanovic with little trouble, but it's certainly worth noting that Pavlyuchenkova had to dispatch seventh-seeded Francesca Schiavone to punch her ticket to the quarterfinals.

Down the road a piece, it's still looking like Serena is on a collision course with world No. 2 Vera Zvonareva. The last time the two of them met in a Grand Slam was in the 2010 Wimbledon final, which was won by Serena.