Serena’s midriff, naval ring take center stage at Aust Open

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.

Johanna Konta is the Australian Open’s dark horse and can become the first British woman to reach a grand slam quarter-final since 1984, according to the record’s current holder Jo Durie.

World number five Maria Sharapova battled past petite Lauren Davis and into the Australian Open fourth round on Friday as she edges closer to another showdown with arch-rival Serena Williams.

“I never thought that I’d be playing at this age, honestly”, said Sharapova, whose personal life remains out of bounds, although she most recently had a relationship with fellow player Grigor Dimitrov. Konta will meet the Russian No21 seed, Ekaterina Makarova, after she eliminated No9 seed Karolina Pliskova. “When I’m happy, I guess I show it as well”. I am not that surprised, she played well in the French Open and was such a good player.

Konta broke twice in each set and was ruthless on her own serve, offering not a single break point to her opponent in a swift win lasting just an hour and four minutes. I mean, you can see all my emotions.

The BBC, meanwhile, hailed her as “Queen Konta” in a congratulatory tweet after the match.

“Oh, wow, I’ve won 600 matches?” the 28-year-old said.

Konta, serving well and hitting her ground strokes with power and precision, took control from the back of the court from the start.

The powerful Williams wasted little time in laying down the law, winning a break for a 2-0 lead with Kasatkina barely getting her racquet on the ball as she was pushed around the court.

“She’s a very good player, but today she was like a hurricane”, said the Russian teenager, who had beaten Serena’s sister, Venus earlier this month in Auckland.

The American sportswoman, who takes her design work seriously, has frequently made statements with her choice of clothing at major tournaments.

In 2015, she was one of only a handful of players to beat Williams and Sharapova knows that she is going to have fight, again. She plays 10th-seeded Carla Suarez Navarro in a night match on Rod Laver Arena. She’s a very good competitor and she stays very calm and just really gets on with things. Thanks everybody for coming out, thanks very much for supporting me throughout this whole week so far’.

The Serbian had to work for his victory through some long rallies but always looked like he had an extra gear when he needed it. “I think it’s just about being there, fighting hard, and trying to capitalise on the small chances you do get”.