Serena serves up glamour clash with Sharapova

“This must be the first match I won on a challenge but it felt like a clean ball – I felt like it was on the line, I was really positive about it but I thought worst-case scenario we’re back to deuce”. “It’ll be a good match”. “I remember, obviously, winning and that was really great”.

There was no shortage of those (Sharapova made 46 unforced errors), but in the end she simply had too much firepower.

The seventh-seeded Nishikori, the 2014 U.S. Open finalist, also reached the quarterfinals at the Australian Open previous year and in 2012.

“I know a lot of players wanted me to win this match”, the 31-year-old Frenchman said.

Williams’ dominance of the women’s game has created a gulf that is enormous between her spot at No. 1 and everyone else.

The American superstar has won her last 17 matches against the No 5 seed stretching back to 2004, including last year’s final in Melbourne. She’s won the Australian title a record six times in the Open era.

The richly talented 18-year-old had a number of chances to break Sharapova in the second set but the five-times grand slam champion’s serve repeatedly sprung her from jail.

But losing, Williams said Sunday, just makes her want to win more.

Williams finished the first set in 30 minutes to the tune of 6-2.

Clarey said Williams was “in that quiet place that any opponent should dread”. “She was No.1. I really didn’t have anything to lose, so it was just like…” The world number one will be happy with how her Australian Open has gone so far this year after playing some great tennis.

Earlier, two-time champion Victoria Azarenka dropped her opening service game without winning a point, but recovered quickly to beat Japanese qualifier Naomi Osaka 6-1, 6-1.

She easily held for 1-0 then applied pressure to the Bencic serve with some pinpoint groundstrokes.

Tournament organizers said Murray, Ivanovic, and Keys wouldn’t be available for interviews, leaving Sousa as the only one of the four players involved in those night matches who commented on the episode.

With another championship in Melbourne, Williams would equal Steffi Graf’s 22 major singles titles. Court holds the all-time Grand Slam record of 24.

The five-time grand slam champion said her display was strong against Bencic, despite putting in just 47 per cent of first serves.

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) – In the shadows of a sporting shrine where centuries are usually celebrated, Novak Djokovic reached an unprecedented 100 that took a touch of the shine off his streak of reaching the quarterfinals for a 27th consecutive Grand Slam. The Russian will look to keep serving big, after dropping 21 aces on Bencic, against the world No. 1 Williams.

Serena Williams on the other hand completed her match in Serena straight-sets fashion and blithely had not the merest clue who was next, or at least feigned ignorance.

When her rivalry with Williams started out, she had the lead.

It’s a statistic she tries to block from her mind, particularly right before they play. (Really, when does Maria’s screaming/grunting not sound loud?) Instead, she said, what stood out most in her fourth-round loss to Sharapova was her opponent’s serve.