TNT Sports
Serena set to sparkle
By
Published 01/09/2005 at 01:04 GMT+1
Eighth seed Serena Williams put in a typically powerful display of attacking tennis to overcome the challenge of Colombian Catalina Castano on Wednesday night to progress into the third round of the US Open. The American won in glamorous style, sporting a
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Image credit: TNT Sports
Serena comfortably took the first set 6-2 with an impressive display of serving, to which the Colombian had no answer.
And it was more of the same in the second, as the players traded service games until the sixth game, when Serena broke Castano's serve. After that, there was no coming back for the Colombian, and she didn't win another game.
Serena capped a fantastic display with a sublime backhand shot to win the match that had the crowd on their feet.
Serena's win keeps her on course for an all-Williams fourth round tie, but for Wednesday night at least, her sister Venus was cheering her on, sitting alongside their mother Orecene in the stands.
Not content with one pair of $40,000 earrings, Serena sported platinum chandeliers during the match. The "Crown of Hearts" will have only eight carats worth of diamonds - down from 13 carats in the first pair.
But apparently, diamonds don't go with any of the 8th seed's usual outfits, and she chose to make a rare appearance in all-white, instead of her normally colourful ensembles.
Last year, the two-times champion turned heads with knee-high black boots, a denim miniskirt and a studded black tank top.
Serena started her first-round match on Monday with "The Dream Catcher" earrings, borrowed from California designer Erica Courtney.
But one fell off in the first set of her match against Yung-Jan Chan, so she took the other off.
After tonight's match, whilst speaking to the corwd, Serena pledged to help out the victims of Hurricane Katrina.
"I would like to thank everyone for coming out," she said.
"I was just thinking about the hurricane. It's been such a tragedy down there.
"I decided for every ace I hit I am going to donate 100 dollars for the rest of the year, every tournament I play."
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