Serena Williams wins, Venus Williams loses in fourth round at the U.S. Open

After two-plus hours of often vintage shot-making, Venus Williams maneuvered into the lead against Karolina Pliskova, one point from becoming the oldest U.S. Open women’s quarterfinalist in the Open era at age 36.

“At least I had my serve,” Pliskova said. “So at least something was on my side.”

Pliskova fired a serve down the middle, to the forehand of Williams. She then powered a cross-court backhand into the corner and put away a bold swinging forehand volley late in the third set of their fourth-round match.

Yes, it can require three brilliant shots to win the point against Venus Williams.

Pliskova, of the Czech Republic, managed to quell her nerves and crowd opposition enough to prevail against the No. 6-seeded Williams, 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (3), in one of the best-contested women’s matches here. She regained her composure in the tiebreaker after failing to convert three match points when serving at 6-5.

The result eliminated the prospect of an all-Williams semifinal at the Open. Top-seeded Serena Williams appears destined to get there, based on her current form and serve. She defeated unseeded Yaroslava Shvedova of Kazakhstan, 6-2, 6-3, in 68 minutes, and has not lost her serve in four matches.

Williams had 11 aces and did not face a break point. It was her 308^th Grand Slam singles victory, an Open era record.

“It’s a huge number,” she said. “I think it’s very significant actually. Really talks about the length of my career, in particular. I’ve been playing for a really long time but given that consistency up there, that’s something I’m really proud of.”

Williams will play No. 5 Simona Halep of Romania in the quarterfinals. Halep defeated Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain, 6-2, 7-5, in the fourth round, and has lost one set in four matches.

In men’s fourth-round matches, No. 3 Stan Wawrinka of Switzerland beat Illya Marchenko of Ukraine, 6-4, 6-1, 6-7 (5), 6-3, and No. 6 Kei Nishikori of Japan defeated No. 21 Ivo Karlovic of Croatia, 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (4). Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina, champion here in 2009 but unseeded this year, won his fourth-rounder against Dominic Thiem when the Austrian retired in the middle of the second set because of an injury.

The last fourth-round men’s match was Monday night between No. 2 Andy Murray of Britain and No. 22 Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria. The other night match featured No. 4 Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland against Ana Konjuh of Croatia.

Pliskova will play the winner of Radwanska-Konjuh. Pliskova, seeded 10^th, has been on the rise. Known for a big serve — she had eight aces Monday — Pliskova came to New York with momentum, having beaten Angelique Kerber in the Cincinnati final last month, a result that prevented Kerber from taking the No. 1 ranking from Serena Williams.

“It was a big step and big success,” Pliskova said. “So I took a lot from that week. I knew I can play big tennis and good matches, but I couldn’t put it [together] in the Grand Slams. I felt little bit pressure on myself.”

It didn’t show on the court. Pliskova maintained a poker face, most of the time, and displayed keen court sense and smooth stroke production. On Williams’ match point, the Czech did everything right.

“Whenever you have a match point on someone else’s serve, it’s a little bit of an asterisk,” Williams said. “I really have no regrets on that. . . . I was never in control of that point, even though I played a great point. It was really out of my hands.”

Williams saved three match points with Pliskova leading, 6-5, 40-0. Pliskova double faulted, and Williams hit a backhand volley and a sharp angled backhand winner to get to deuce. The Arthur Ashe Stadium crowd was doing its best to spark Williams.

“I knew if she’s down or if it’s somewhere close, that the people will cheer for her,” Pliskova said. “You know, I wanted to beat her, not the crowd, which is impossible to beat 23,000 people.”

Some even cheered Pliskova’s service faults. She heard that and said it made her “a little mad,” but realized the crowd would be in her favor if they were playing in the Czech Republic. And there was an obvious outpouring for Williams, a two-time champion here who first played the Open in 1997 and reached the final.

“I still have the feeling she can play for so many years because she’s moving so well,” said the 24-year-old Pliskova. “If she stays healthy, I think she can still play a few years. I was a little girl watching her, [and] obviously Serena, on TV. They are still playing. They are still playing the best tennis ever. It’s amazing.”