Serena ousts fourth-seeded Azarenka

Serena Williams finally was put to the test in her comeback at the U.S. Open yesterday, finally running up against a player who could run with her and hit with her and stare her down.

But Williams, seeded 28th, ran and hit and stared just a little bit harder and came away with a hard-won 6-1, 7-6 (5) victory over fourth-seeded Victoria Azarenka.

"I think in the first set I played some really good tennis,'' Williams said. "I think in the second set she played really, really good tennis. She kind of dictated and I allowed it.''

At first it seemed that Azarenka would be nothing but a penny on the rails of the Serena Express, flattened in an instant. Williams broke Azarenka's first two serves, jumped out to a 5-0 lead and seemed unstoppable. And though Williams would win the set 6-1, it was the sixth game, the game Azarenka won, that signaled she would not go quietly into the night. Down love-30, she won the next four points, swinging Williams from side to side and front to back.

The second set was the stuff of a thrilling final, not a third- round match. With Azarenka gaining traction by holding her first three serves, it was clear that it wasn't going to be a runaway. Then in the seventh game, Williams broke for a 4-3 lead and held for 5-3.

Azarenka lost the first three points on her serve in the ninth game, and Williams held three match points. But Azarenka, facing the game's deadliest closer, won five straight points for 5-4, then broke Williams for 5-5. They both held serve to send it to the tiebreak, where Williams hit a forehand winner for the match. Williams will next face Ana Ivanovic, who Saturday night defeated Sloane Stephens, 6-3, 6-4. No. 1 seed Caroline Wozniacki beat Vania King, 6-2, 6-4.

Azarenka's exit from the Open last year was in a wheelchair after she collapsed during a match with Gisela Dulko. It was the consequence, she said later, of a fall she had taken while wearing baggy gym pants and running on a treadmill.

It didn't help that it was 92 degrees that day and she was wearing a black dress.

There had been other exits from Slams attributed to her state of mind rather than the state of her talent. The Belarusian even considered going back to school rather than toughing it out on tour, but her grandmother is credited with giving her the impetus to move on, and Saturday the maturity in her game showed.

Williams' eight-month absence from tennis because of injury and illness had taken her ranking down to No. 28 by the time she entered the Open. But she won two hard-court tournaments this summer and it was clear that when the draw was made, a highly seeded player was going to get a really tough early match. It was Azarenka who drew that short straw. She refused to moan about it.

"I'm not going to sit here and cry about I had a tough draw,'' Azarenka said. "It's part of the game, you know . . . If I want to be good, if I want to be a champion, I have to beat the best players.''