Williams, Capriati manage to advance

NEW YORK -- Hardly at her best, barely beating one of the tour's pesky teens, Serena Williams suddenly found herself face-down at the U.S. Open, facing a break point.

Recomposed, Williams smacked a service winner at 111 mph, an ace just as fast, and forced an error. Just like that, she held serve en route to beating 30th-seeded Tatiana Golovin 7-5, 6-4 Friday night to reach the Open's fourth round.

It was not Williams' best performance. The 1999 and 2002 Open champion trailed 4-1 in the first set. She made a dozen unforced errors to that point and finished with 42. But she turned things around by winning eight of nine games.

She made it through, though, as did all the favored women Friday. Still, there was a whole lotta Grand Slam gripin' going on around the National Tennis Center.

Jennifer Capriati lobbied for instant replay -- and that was after a victory. Capriati survived a tougher-than-expected 6-0, 6-7 (4), 6-3 win against 17-year-old Russian Vera Douchevina.