With Maria Sharapova withdrawing because of a shoulder injury and the second-round elimination of Venus Williams, the women’s draw at the U.S. Open has lost a lot of its star power. It hasn’t helped matters that two of the top-11 seeds — No. 4 Sara Errani and No. 11 Sam Stosur — already have gone down.
The No. 1 attraction, however, doesn’t plan on departing Flushing for at least another 10 days or so.
Top-seeded and defending Open champion Serena Williams, wearing a pink miniskirt, pink sneakers and a bright red top, cruised into the third round yesterday afternoon, routing Galina Voskoboeva, 6-3, 6-0 at Arthur Ashe Stadium. In two matches, she has lost just four games.
“I’m just trying to do the best I can,” she said. “Just always trying to get a little better.”
Being forced to wait an extra day because of Wednesday’s rain and watching Errani get knocked off in straight sets didn’t have much of an effect on Williams.
Though Williams was not as sharp as she was on opening night, she still coasted to a straight set victory, dispatching the 77th-ranked Voskoboeva and breaking her serve five times.
She will face unseeded Yaroslava Shvedova, who has yet to drop a set, in the third round.
She finished off the first set strong, winning four of the final five games after a slow start, and cruised in the second. Voskoboeva had no answer for Williams’ trademark overpowering groundstrokes or her crisp and well-placed serve.
The road should get tougher for Williams, who seems to be on track for a fourth-round collision course with 20-year-old American Sloane Stephens, the 15th seed many have said is the heir to Williams’ throne. First, Stephens, who upset Williams in the quarterfinals at the Australian Open, must get past No. 23 Jamie Hampton, another American.
“You have to be ready for everything and every part,” Williams said. “We’ll see what happens. I mean, all of them have been playing well. Sloane plays excellent, and Jamie has been playing very well.
“Hopefully I can try to keep up.”
zbraziller@nypost.com