Serena Williams won the last eight games straight to reach the US Open’s fourth round with a 6-4 6-0 victory over Russia’s Ekaterina Makarova.
The fourth-seeded Williams hit eight aces and won 32 of the 40 points she served on Saturday.
The match was even at 4-all in the first set, when Williams broke the left-handed Makarova, who upset the American at the Australian Open earlier this year, for the first time to seize control in Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Williams’ fourth-round loss to Makarova in Melbourne is the only defeat in 22 Grand Slam matches against lefties for the 14-time major champion.
This time, though, Williams built a 31-10 edge in winners and moved a step closer to a fourth US Open title.
“It was better today,” Williams said.
“I played such a good opponent, she beat me in Australia, so I knew I needed to play better going into today and I definitely felt I played better.
“Mentally I am just going with the flow, this is my home crowd and it’s hard not to be excited to play here, being an American and playing in New York.”
Williams, the fourth seed, will face either Maria Kirilenko of Russia, the 14th seed, or unseeded Czech Andrea Hlavackova for a place in the quarter-finals.
Earlier, Polish second seed Agnieszka Radwanska reached the US Open last 16 with a 6-3 7-5 win over Serb 30th seed Jelena Jankovic.
Radwanska will face Italian 20th seed Roberta Vinci for a place in the quarter-finals.