Serena coasts, but rain wipes out the rest.(South Florida Sun-Sentinel)

NEW YORK _ This was the fourth round at the U.S. Open. It was supposed to be the end of the hors d'oeuvres for Serena Williams with young and gifted Daja Bedanova across the net with her No. 20 ranking.

Not even close.

All this 41-minute, 6-1, 6-1 victory proved on a dismal, rainy Sunday that delayed the tennis for six hours and 39 minutes and ultimately wiped out virtually the entire schedule is that there is a Grand Canyon between Williams sisters and all but about three or four other players on the Sanex WTA Tour.

The numbers that have mounted up under Serena's name after four wins here are beginning to look like the spectacular statistics rolled up by Martina Navratilova on her record 74-match winning streak.

Williams has now won 18 consecutive Grand Slam matches and 24 of her past 25. During her 18-match Slam streak she has lost only two sets _ to Jennifer Capriati and Vera Zvonareva at the French Open. In four matches in New York she has lost only 10 games.

Shall we go on? Bedanova had only 21 points and only five off Serena's serve. Williams on her serve never let Bedanova reach 30. She had eight aces and got 76 percent of her first serves in, despite cool and breezy weather that usually plays havoc with a player's toss.

Bedanova, playing serve-and-volley off her first deliveries, never had a ground stroke winner and, in fact, Williams has yielded only five ground stroke winners to four opponents here.