Serena speeds through as Wawrinka, Murray battle into last 16

Serena Williams sped past another milestone en route to the US Open fourth round as men's contenders Andy Murray and Stan Wawrinka clawed their way into the last 16.
World number one Williams dominated Sweden's Johanna Larsson 6-2, 6-1 to surpass Martina Navratilova for most Grand Slam wins by a woman with 307.
Not only has she surpassed Navratilova, she matched Roger Federer's mark for men.
"To be up there with both men and women is something that's super-rare, and it actually feels good," said Williams, who said she was "really excited" to reach 307.
"Obviously I want to keep that number going higher," added Williams, who will get her chance when she takes on Kazakhstan's Yaroslava Shvedova for a quarter-final berth.

In the one hour it took to subdue Larsson, Williams again appeared untroubled by the shoulder injury that has slowed her since her Wimbledon triumph.

"It definitely feels solid," she said. "I'm doing a lot of work on it so I can keep it in this position."
While Williams encountered little resistance, it was another story for the top men's seeds in action.
Wawrinka, a two-time Grand Slam winner and twice a semi-finalist in New York, had the closest call, saving a match point in a 4-6, 6-3, 6-7 (6/8), 7-6 (10/8), 6-2 victory over Britain's Dan Evans.
The 31-year-old third seed saved the match point at 5/6 in the fourth set tiebreaker, breaking the will of his 64th-ranked opponent.

"It's always good to win by saving match point. It's always something special, that's for sure," said Wawrinka, who had his left ankle taped after twisting it during the match. "It was a tough battle and I'm happy to get through."
Many of Murray's troubles against Paolo Lorenzi were of his own making as he allowed the energetic Italian journeyman to make him look ordinary through two sets before pulling himself together to win 7-6 (7/4), 5-7, 6-2, 6-3.
"I had to stop rushing," said Murray, who arrived at the year's final Grand Slam off victories at Wimbledon and the Rio Olympics and may have expected less from Lorenzi, the 34-year-old who only won a first ATP title in July.

"I was making a lot of unforced errors and (Lorenzi) is very solid, and doesn't give you cheap points," Murray said. "I was looking for those cheap points too often."
Murray takes on Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov, a 6-4, 6-1, 3-6, 6-2 winner over Portugal's Joao Sousa, for a quarter-final berth.
Wawrinka next faces 63rd-ranked Ukrainian Illya Marchenko, who advanced when a hurting Nick Kyrgios, hobbled by a painful right hip, retired while trailing 4-6, 6-4, 6-1.
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The tall Croat started to serve better, losing only five points in his next five service games. He also attempted to keep the points short but Kovalik continued to present a dogged fight and it boiled down to tie-breaker with the two players holding their serves.

Kovalik had handed an opening to Cilic with a double fault at 2-2 but the Croat netted a backhand on next point to let go advantage. The world number six hit a forehand long at 4-5 to hand the Slovakian two set points. Cilic saved the first but netted a backhand on the second to hand Kovalik the first set.
Stunned by the reversal, the Croat put his foot on the gas and raced to a 3-0 lead with a break in the second game.
After a foot fault call at 15-15, which perhaps disturbed his rhythm, Kovalik hit a forehand long at 30-40 to face a break point. Cilic played smart and pinned the Slovakian on the far left side of the baseline in a long rally and sent down a volley winner from a weak backhand return to seal the break.

Kovalik prevented Cilic from walking away with a 5-1 lead by saving two breakpoints in the sixth game. Not only this, he broke Cilic back in the seventh and made it 4-4 with an easy hold in the next game.
The Slovakian though choked when he was serving to stay in the match at 5-6. He sent a backhand to net to hand Cilic his first set point and followed that with a long forehand to allow the Croat make a comeback in the match.
The third set was again neck and neck before Kovalik cashed in on unforced errors from Cilic to get a break in the 11th game, setting himself up to close the match in his favour.

However, there was more drama to the match with Kovalik facing three breakpoints but Cilic could convert none and eventually Kovalik converted his first match point.
In another second match of the day, Spaniard Albert Ramos-Vinolas outplayed Steve Darcis 6-2 6-0.