Venus Williams looked shaky at first, as she traded breaks with her opponent, Mandy Minella of Luxembourg, but she got her game together and cruised to an easy straight sets win.
She had never played the virtual unknown Minella and following her victory, she admitted that she did not know what to expect from her opponent.
Overall, Williams played well and looked to be one of the favorites to take the title, but under the lights in New York, it was her fashion that again got the attention. Wearing her third dress in as many matches, Williams played in a tight, black dress that had enough glitter to blind the fans in the upper decks.
In her fourth round match, Williams will play Shahar Peer, who defeated the 19th seed Flavia Pennetta 6-4, 6-4.
Second seeded Kim Clijsters also had a shaky start before cruising her way to an emphatic win.
Clijsters was down 3-0 early against the 27th seeded Petra Kvitova, but after that she won 12 games in a row to take the victory 6-3, 6-0.
After the match, Clijsters said she was happy to have won without playing her best. Her next opponent will be Ana Ivanovic, who has reached the fourth round for the first time in three years.
Other winners on the women’s side were fifth seeded Samantha Stosur and 12th seeded Elena Dementieva, who will face each other next.
