Serena, Andreescu advance to U.S. Open final

Serena Williams, playing in San Jose last year, will try again to equal Margaret
Court's record of 24 Grand Slam singles titles. Photo by Mal Taam

   Serena Williams has lost one-sided finals three times while trying to tie Margaret Court's record of 24 Grand Slam singles titles.
   Williams will get another chance on Saturday (1 p.m. PDT on ESPN).
   Seeded eighth, the 37-year-old part-time resident of Silicon Valley dismissed fifth-seeded Elina Svitolina of Ukraine 6-3, 6-1 in 70 minutes on Thursday in the U.S. Open semifinals.
   Combined with her 44-minute quarterfinal victory over Wang Qiang, Williams has averaged 57 minutes in her last two matches in Flushing Meadows, N.Y.
   Williams will meet 15th-seeded Bianca Andreescu, a 19-year-old Canadian, for the title. Andreescu turned back 13th-seeded Belinda Bencic of Switzerland 7-6 (3), 7-5 to reach her first Grand Slam final. Bencic, 22, led 5-2 in the second set.
   Andreescu and Williams have met once – sort of. Andreescu led 3-1 in last month's Toronto final when Williams retired with back spasms.
   Williams won her 23rd major singles crown in the 2017 Australian Open, had her first child seven months later and suffered life-threatening complications. She lost finals to Angelique Kerber 6-3, 6-3 at Wimbledon in 2018, Naomi Osaka 6-2, 6-4 in last year's U.S. Open and Simona Halep 6-2, 6-2 at Wimbledon in July.
   Williams has been on her best behavior during matches and interviews the last two weeks after her tumultuous loss to Osaka.
   In the third round of boys singles on Thursday, eighth-seeded Emilio Nava, 17, of Woodland Hills in the Los Angeles area beat Aidan Mayo, a 16-year-old product of Roseville in the Sacramento region, 7-6 (3), 6-2.