Black Tennis Pros

Twelve women, including Americans Shenay Perry and Sloane Stephens, booked their places in the main draw of the BNP Paribas Open after winning their second-round qualifying matches on Tuesday at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden.

Perry went the distance against Chinese Taipei’s Chang Kai-Chen, withstanding 16 aces off her opponent’s racquet to earn a 4-6, 7-6(4), 7-6(2) win in two hours and 15 minutes. The 25-year-old Perry, currently ranked No. 103, will be making her fourth appearance in the main draw. She made her best showing in 2006, when she reached the third round before falling to Serbia’s Ana Ivanovic.

Sixteen-year-old Stephens, a wild card entry in the qualification draw, cruised past Spaniard Arantxa Parra Santonja 6-1, 6-3. The 623rd-ranked Stephens is making her debut at the BNP Paribas Open. She enjoyed success in juniors last year, reaching the semi-finals at Roland Garros and the quarter-finals at Wimbledon.

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NEW YORK — Serena Williams offered a new, tongue-in-cheek explanation for why she plays so much better at Grand Slam tournaments than other events.

"Maybe it pays more," she said with a smile. "I guess I'm trying to pay off my mortgage."

Defending champion Williams joined her sister in the U.S. Open's third round with a dominating victory Wednesday night, playing pretty close to perfect while beating 51st-ranked Melinda Czink of Hungary 6-1, 6-1 in less than an hour.

Williams is seeking her fourth U.S. Open championship and 12th Grand Slam singles title overall. She's won three of the past four major tournaments — but she hasn't won a single nonmajor tournament in that span.

The American is trying to become the first woman to win consecutive titles at Flushing Meadows since her older sister Venus in 2000-01.

The siblings could play each other in the semifinals. Venus Williams wore heavy bandages above and below her left knee while winning earlier Wednesday, eliminating Bethanie Mattek-Sands of the United States 6-4, 6-2.

The younger Williams played Czink at a hard-court tournament in California in July, and things were much more competitive until Williams eventually prevailed 6-3, 7-6 (7).

Why was Wednesday's encounter so different?

"I definitely made adjustments," Williams said. "I knew her game better today."

Truth be told, Czink simply couldn't handle Williams' power, like a baseball hitter whose swing is too slow to get around on a fastball and keeps fouling off pitches.

That was illustrated on consecutive points early in the second set: First, one ball flew wildly off Czink's racket and soared wide and high, so off-track and so hard that it smacked the scorekeeping gizmo off the chair umpire's stand. Next, another ball went directly sideways, nearly into the noggin of a line judge.

Williams finished with an impressive ratio of 25 winners to only nine unforced errors.

About the only glitch for Williams came midway through the first set, when she thought she had pounded an ace. Instead, the serve was waved off by a line judge, who called a foot-fault.

Williams turned and glared, setting her hands on her hips. She just stood there with a straight face for a few seconds, staring down the official. When play resumed, Williams pushed a forehand into the net, then again sent a serious look in his direction.

And on the following point, Williams smacked an ace at 115 mph and looked over once more, as though to say, "Was my foot in the right place that time?!"

"I was kind of frustrated because I hit a great serve, best serve I hit in months. Yeah, I was just like, 'Ugh!'" Williams said.

Asked about the staredown, she said: "They do play that song, 'Straight out of Compton' when I walk out."

The Williams sisters won their opening doubles match 6-2, 6-2 over Julia Goerges and Arantxa Parra Santonja, answering the questions about whether Venus would play in that event because of her sore knee.

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