Serena Williams easily advanced to the third round of the US Open on Thursday while sister Venus made 16 double faults and 60 unforced errors to be eliminated and continue her grand slam barren run.
Serena, the 14-time grand slam champion, scored a dominant 6-2 6-4 victory over Spain’s Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez and will next face Russia’s Ekaterina Makarova for a berth in the last 16.
German sixth seed Angelique Kerber later scored a 6-2 5-7 7-5 victory over seven-time grand slam champion Venus.
It was Venus’s second consecutive second-round exit at the US Open and marked the first year in Williams’ career, which began in 1997, that she has not gone past the second round in any grand slam tournament.
Left-hander Kerber, who made the semi-finals last month at Wimbledon and at last year’s US Open, will next play Belarussian Olga Govortsova, who beat British qualifier Johanna Konta 2-6 6-2 7-5.
“It’s unbelievable,” Kerber said. “I had great memories from last year and the match was so tough and so close.
“Venus won so many grand slams and I’m so happy to beat her in New York. It’s an amazing feeling to play here in a night session.”
Williams, whose most recent major title came in 2008 at Wimbledon, missed a chance to avenge a third-round loss to Kerber at the London Olympics.
Kerber also defeated Serena in a Cincinnati quarter-final to snap her 19-match win streak that had included Wimbledon and Olympic titles.
Williams, ranked 46th, battles an auto-immune ailment that saps her energy. She has not won a title since Acapulco in 2010 and has not lifted a US Open trophy since her back-to-back crowns in 2000 and 2001.
Serbia’s Ana Ivanovic also reached the third round but admitted she needs to take painkillers every morning to see her through at Flushing Meadows.
The 12th-seeded Serb, who has never got beyond the fourth round in New York, made the last 32 with a 6-2 6-2 win over Sofia Arvidsson of Sweden.
But the 2008 French Open champion is still bothered by a right foot injury which forced her out of the Cincinnati tournament on the eve of the US Open.
“I still have to take a handful of pills every morning,” said the 24-year-old.
“It was a little bit unfortunate but it’s part of the sport. We play so much and changing surfaces and continents. My foot has been healing and at the moment I am feeling healthy.”
Ivanovic goes on to face either America’s Sloane Stephens or German qualifier Tatjana Malek for a place in the last 16.
Fellow Serb Jelena Jankovic, seeded 30th and the 2008 runner-up, also made the third round with a 6-4 6-2 win over Spain’s Lara Arruabarrena-Vecino.
She next meets either second seed Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland, who beat Spain’s Carla Suarez Navarro 4-6 6-3 6-0.
Russian 14th seed Maria Kirilenko, watched by ice hockey superstar boy friend Alex Ovechkin, saw off Hungarian 33-year-old Greta Arn 6-3 6-2.
Slovakian 13th seed Dominika Cibulkova, a quarter-finalist in 2010, edged Serbia’s Bojana Jovanovski 7-6 (7-3) 7-6 (7-3).
In other women’s matches, Italy’s Roberta Vinci (20th seed) beat Kazakh Yaroslava Shvedova 3-6 7-5 7-5, American Sloane Stephens downed German Tatjana Malek 5-7 6-4 6-4 and Italian Sara Errani (10th seed) crushed Russian Vera Dushevina 6-0 6-1.
