Fans fume over US Open's 'questionable' treatment of injured Serena Williams

Serena Williams has brushed off a nasty injury scare to progress to the quarter finals at the US Open.

Serena was seemingly cruising along to a straightforward victory on Sunday when she took an awkward step at the net and rolled her right ankle.

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She tumbled to the ground and sat there, cross-legged, right in the middle of Arthur Ashe Stadium for a few moments.

Fans held their breath in shock, waiting to see if the champ would get back up.

And many were left pretty filthy when the DJ in Arthur Ashe Stadium started playing ‘Proud Mary’ by Creedance Clearwater Revival.

The lyrics ‘Rolling on the River’ appeared to be a complete troll of Serena rolling her ankle, and fans took to social media to call it out.

Serena surges after injury scare

Williams has dealt with various health issues all season, including one that ended her stay at the Australian Open.

She immediately asked for a trainer, who added tape to her lower right leg and foot during a medical timeout at the ensuing changeover midway through the second set.

Soon enough, Williams was back on course, beating No. 22 seed Petra Martic 6-3 6-4 to reach the quarter-finals at Flushing Meadows for her 11th appearance in a row.

"I just rolled it. I don't know why," said Williams, who will face No. 18 Wang Qiang of China next. "I was volleying and it just went over, so that was a little frustrating."

Never really slowed her down, though. A couple of points after falling, she got the last service break she would need with a drop volley winner that made it 3-2.

She ended this match by raising both arms after smacking an ace at 118 mph, her fastest of the afternoon, punctuating an overpowering performance that included 38 winners to Martic's 11.

"It's been a rough year with injuries," said the 37-year-old Williams, who owns six US Open titles and 23 Grand Slam singles trophies in all, "so I thought, 'Oh, no, not again!'"

The scene Sunday brought back memories of Williams' Australian Open quarter-final in January against Karolina Pliskova. Williams was way ahead - holding a match point at 5-1, 40-30 in the third set - when she turned her left ankle awkwardly.

From there, Williams was no longer, well, Williams, dropping every point she served the rest of the way.

She failed to convert four match points in all that day, ceded six games in a row and lost 7-5 in the third. That time, Williams didn't call for a trainer, which surprised many.

This time she didn't make that mistake.

with AAP