Williams Rolls at Open

Seeking her third Grand Slam victory of the year, Serena Williams withstood a strong test Friday from Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez to advance to the fourth round of the U.S. Open.

Williams overcame an early break in the second set to win 6-3, 7-5 and received a gift in the 11th game when Martinez Sanchez double-faulted twice in a row after the players reached deuce for the eighth time.

The was a rematch of a third-round meeting in the French Open, which Williams won in three sets. After that match, Williams said she hit a ball she thought went off her opponent's arm, and accused Martinez Sanchez of cheating by not acknowledging it.

Asked about that incident before this match, Williams again said: "It hit her."

But there were no signs of animosity during their rematch on a cloudless, comfortable, 80-degree afternoon at Arthur Ashe Stadium.

Martinez Sanchez is ranked 43rd in the world. Known mainly as a doubles player, the left-handed Spaniard offers a refreshing change of pace by playing almost all serve-and-volley. It made for a more difficult test for Williams, who had lost only seven total games in her first two matches.

Williams, seeking her fourth U.S. Open title, next meets 22nd-seeded Daniela Hantuchova, who defeated American Vania King 6-2, 6-2.

Tenth-seeded Flavia Pennetta also moved on Friday, defeating Aleksandra Wozniak of Canada, 6-1, 6-1.

The men's draw continued to go almost strictly to form, with No. 6 Juan Martin del Potro, No. 7 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga each winning in straight sets. With the third round nearly complete, none of the top 10 seeded men has lost a set.

"It was a quick match. I played great," Tsonga said after his 7-5, 6-3, 6-4 win over Finland's Jarkko Nieminen.

No. 16 Marin Cilic and No. 24 Juan Carlos Ferrero also won. Cilic overcame a two-set deficit to defeat 135th-ranked American Jesse Levine.

"When it got to the third set, he really stepped up his game," Levine said.

Americans Taylor Dent and Robby Ginepri were scheduled for later matches Friday.

Also playing later were No. 2 Andy Murray against Paul Capdeville of Chile, with No. 3 Rafael Nadal playing Nicolas Kiefer in a night match.

No. 3 Venus Williams, on the same side of the draw as her sister, also was scheduled to play at night against Magdalena Rybarikova.

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Results

Results Friday from the U.S. Open at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center (seedings in parentheses):

Singles Men Second Round

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (7), France, def. Jarkko Nieminen, Finland, 7-5, 6-3, 6-4.

Julien Benneteau, France, def. Viktor Troicki (30), Serbia, 6-1, 3-6, 6-1, 6-0.

Marin Cilic (16), Croatia, def. Jesse Levine, United States, 4-6, 2-6, 6-0, 6-3, 6-0.

Juan Carlos Ferrero (24), Spain, def. Philipp Petzschner, Germany, 1-6, 3-6, 6-4, 6-2, 6-4.

Juan Martin del Potro (6), Argentina, def. Jurgen Melzer, Austria, 7-6 (6), 6-3, 6-3.

Singles Women Third Round

Flavia Pennetta (10), Italy, def. Aleksandra Wozniak, Canada, 6-1, 6-1.

Daniela Hantuchova (22), Slovakia, def. Vania King, United States, 6-2, 6-2.

Serena Williams (2), United States, def. Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez, Spain, 6-3, 7-5.

Doubles Men Second Round

Yen-hsun Lu, Taiwan, and Dudi Sela, Israel, def. Marcel Granollers and Tommy Robredo, Spain, walkover.

Max Mirnyi, Belarus, and Andy Ram (5), Israel, def. Dusan Vemic, Serbia, and Mischa Zverev, Germany, 7-5, 3-6, 6-1.

Doubles Women Second Round

Alexa Glatch and Carly Gullickson, United States, def. Hsieh Su-wei, Taiwan, and Peng Shuai (7), China, 7-5, 6-3.

Olga Govortsova, Belarus, and Alla Kudryavtseva, Russia, def. Vera Dushevina, Russia, and Anastasia Rodionova, Australia, 6-1, 4-6, 6-4.