Serena Williams continues domination of Maria Sharapova with comfortable victory

She came agonizingly close to winning all four majors last year, which would have made her the first person to complete a calendar-year Grand Slam in 27 years. She is an incredibly focussed intense player.

“But, definitely, when you play someone like Maria or Serena you’re trying more”.

Roger Federer advanced to his 39th Grand Slam semifinal, beating Tomas Berdych 7-6 (4), 6-2, 6-4.

Sharapova has not only failed to beat Williams in recent years she has struggled even to stretch her, winning only three sets during the 18-match losing streak.

Williams, a six-time victor at Melbourne Park, stepped up when she needed to as the two power-hitters went head to head from the baseline.

Up next for her is fourth-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska, who beat No. 10 Carla Suarez Navarro, 6-1, 6-3, to reach a Grand Slam semifinal for the fifth time.

The world number five, however, had her chances here, most notably with two break points at the end of the first set, but Williams delivered when it mattered most and it was one-way traffic thereafter.

Serena Williams of the United States takes a drink during her fourth round match against Margarita Gasparyan of Russian Federation at the Australian Open tennis championships in Melbourne, Australia, Sunday, Jan. 24, 2016.

But Belinda Bencic, whom Sharapova defeated in straight sets 7-5 7-5 to earn a quarterfinal berth, believes the “Siberian Siren” could have one advantage over Williams. Sharapova simply didn’t have it on Tuesday at the Australian Open, committing seven double faults, including six in the first set.

This time around, Radwanska broke to lead 2-0 but this triggered a string of service breaks.

Williams called for the trainer at the break then bossed Sharapova around the court, grabbing a 5-0 advantage as the Russian surrendered meekly. So just as Sharapova might have been saying, “I think I can, I think I can”, Serena lifted her game to its usual level.

Williams broke for a second time to take the first set in 55 minutes but only after the top seed had mucked up three set points, twice thundering returns into the net.

Djokovic, the defending Australian Open champion, will resume his title chase against seventh seed Kei Nishikori of Japan at Rod Laver Arena.

“I just feel like I’m really confident in my game right now, not against her or against any other opponent, I’m just really looking at me right now”, she said.

When we watch the Australia Open Women’s Quarterfinals live streaming or on TV tonight, Serena enters the match without having dropped a single set in the tournament thus far.

“I don’t think so”.

“I think that makes me play better”.

With Steffi Graf’s Open-era record of 22 major titles within sight at the Australian Open, and Margaret Court’s all-time mark of 24 on the horizon, she has no plans to hang up her racquet. “I honestly didn’t expect to make this many unforced errors”.

Sharapova said her lopsided record against Williams is, not surprisingly, a source of frustration. I got myself into the quarter-final of a Grand Slam.

“I have nothing to lose”, Radwanska said.