With Maria Sharapova withdrawing before the tournament began 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 — have already 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 Thursday afternoon, routing Galina Voskoboeva, 6-3, 6-0.
“I think I did pretty well,” she said during the on-court interview. “I have to think about it and see what I can do better.”
Being forced to wait an extra day because of Wednesday’s rain and watching Errani get knocked off in straight sets on Ashe before her Thursday morning didn’t have much an effect on Williams. While not as sharp as she was on opening night, Williams still coasted to an easy straight set victory on the Arthur Ashe Stadium court, dispatching the 77th-ranked Voskoboeva with ease and breaking her serve five times.
She will face unseeded Yaroslava Shvedova, who likes Williams has yet to drop a set, in the third round.
It hasn’t been an overly productive grand slam season for Williams — by her standards at least — failing to get past the quarterfinals at the Australian Open — where Stephens pulled the stunning upset — or Wimbledon, though she did win the French Open.
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 a fourth round collision course with 20-year-old American Sloane Stephens, the 15th seed many have fingered as the heir to Williams’ throne.
zbraziller@nypost.com