Serena Williams plays shot AROUND the net in Australian Open win

Beyond the fourth round here, there is the prospect of playing either the No12 seed, Belinda Bencic, or her oldest adversary, Maria Sharapova, in the quarters, and she would surely welcome either of those. “I had a lot of support”.

“I think I played well today. Because as players we can see if something is going wrong”.

Having upset seven-times grand slam victor Venus Williams in the first round, the potential for a let-down was always there, but Konta, not someone to get ahead of herself, eased into round three with a confident 6-2, 6-3 win over Zheng Saisai of China.

The 24-year-old has had problems in the past controlling her composure on court but says she is enjoying the extra tension as she goes deeper in the draw. Serena said her two-piece outfit this tournament is “built for speed” and that was definitely the case. “She’s never mentioned anything about not being here, not competing”.

Tsonga, the 2008 runner-up to Novak Djokovic, reached the round of 16 for the seventh time. Williams not only played like the world No. 1 that she is, she also played as if she were in a hurry to get to a movie, or perhaps track down a cell phone thief.

Trying to move on from the Vinci shocker, Williams was clearly bored by the time the fourth question came around.

The six-time Melbourne Park victor and defending champion easily out-muscled the young Russian 6-1, 6-1 on Rod Laver Arena in just 44 minutes, the shortest match of the tournament so far.

The Russian, meanwhile, was competing in just her second Grand Slam after taking part in the US Open in 2015. “My first match I thought I gave a great effort”, she added of her first round victory over Italy’s Camila Giorgi.

“If you want to, you can ask her”, Serena said of her big sister.

Federer will next play Grigor Dimitrov, who has a style that has been compared with Federer’s, after the No. 27-seeded player beat Marco Trungelliti 6-3, 4-6, 6-2, 7-5.

Rafael Nadal crashed out of a Grand Slam at the first-round stage for just the second time in his career after a five-set loss to fellow Spaniard Fernando Verdasco. “He’s a very nice guy outside of the court – on the court he’s very tough”.

Williams won three majors – the Australian and French Opens and Wimbledon – previous year which took her to within one of Graf’s long-time record of 22.

The match could have a strong influence on who plays doubles in Britain’s Europe/Africa Zone Group I Fed Cup matches against Georgia and South Africa next month, and Konta also has her eye on the Olympics later this year.

Kuznetsova, the 23rd seed, beat No. 2-ranked Simona Halep last week en route to winning the Sydney International title.

Serena Williams of the U.S. (R) shakes hands after victory in her women’s singles match against Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-Wei on day three of the 2016 Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne on January 20, 2016.

The $5,000 fine is the highest a female player has faced for skipping a mandatory news conference, and the second highest since Marat Safin was fined $10,000 at the 2001 French Open.

“I think I served really good and I played a solid match but I feel like I can improve even more so I think that’s a positive”.