Serena cruises into last 16 with revenge win over Makarova

(CNN) -- U.S. Open favorite Serena Williams took heavy revenge for her defeat in this year's Australian Open as she beat Ekaterina Makarova in straight sets Saturday in their third round match at Flushing Meadows.

Williams was beaten in straight sets by the Russian back in January in Melbourne, but she is a different proposition now having taken the Wimbledon and Olympic titles in quick succession.

Few would bet against the fourth seed claiming her fourth U.S. Open crown and Makarova was no match as she succumbed 6-4 6-0 in 81 minutes on the Arthur Ashe Stadium court.

The 31-year-old told gathered reporters after her win that she would not be joining Kim Clijsters and Andy Roddick in retirement.

"I can't leave you guys. I love this sport way too much. I need to stay here for tennis," she said.

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Makarova did make a fight of it in the opener, matching Williams on serve for the first eight games.

But serving 4-5 down, Makarova fell victim to an incredible reaction volley from the American, who then closed out the set on the next point.

Williams rolled through the second, hitting a string of aces and eight in all in the two sets to advance to the last 16 where she will face either Czech Andrea Hlavackova or 14th seed Maria Kirilenko of Russia.

Earlier, Polish second seed Agnieszka Radwanska, beaten by Williams in the Wimbledon final, went through to the fourth round with a scrappy 6-3 7-5 win over Jelena Jankovic of Serbia.

The pair toiled in blazing temperatures, but Radwanska eventually prevailed against the 30th seed in one hour 38 minutes to earn a match against Italian Roberta Vinci for a place in the quarterfinals.

Vinci reached this stage of a grand slam for the first time with a 6-2 7-5 win over Slovakia's 13th seed Dominika Cibulkova.