Serena shrugs off food poisoning to best Sharapova at Australian Open

The Russian five-time grand slam champion pushed hard early on Rod Laver Arena on Tuesday before suffering a 6-4 6-1 loss to Williams.

When the men’s draw for the tournament was made, eyes were drawn to a potential Federer-Djokovic clash in the semifinals.

Another ominous fact facing the Pole is that every time defending champion Williams has got past the quarter-finals at Melbourne Park, she has gone on to win the tournament. The top-seeded Djokovic saved the first three break points he faced, but Federer converted on the fourth.

Federer had 18 winners in the set, to just eight for Djokovic. “I still have to win two matches against potentially two extremely tough opponents”.

Oh, Sharapova did win the first two games, mostly because Serena was sluggish and missed too many shots. Something about her game. Her downfall started in an epic semi-final at the 2005 Australian Open, with the American scraping home in a 2-6, 7-5, 8-6 thriller. He took an injury timeout following the second set and played with heavy strapping to his left leg for most of the third.

Williams raced to a 5-0 lead in the second set and eased to victory. He won the first set in 22 minutes. As it got longer, the rallies got longer, the shrieks and grunts got louder and the emotions were fully on display.

German tennis player Angelique Kerber is through to the final of the 2016 Australian Open. They’ll play the seventh-seeded team of Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka of the Czech Republic.

Speaking of other players, though, Serena will play Agnieszka Radwanska in the semifinals. The mixed doubles final is scheduled for Sunday.

Radwanska’s serve was like shooting practice for the American, particularly given her first serve sat at a lowly 50 per cent in the first set, which Williams sealed to love in just 20 minutes.

It was one of the most anticipated matches of the day, but in the end it proved to be one of the most one-sided ones.

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. Of her 25 previous major finals, Williams has won 21.

There was a brief delay when rain showers hit the court with the roof open before the 12th game. And there could be little arguing with that, having just inflicted her eighteenth straight beating on one of the best players in women’s tennis of the modern era. – 3-17 against Williams. “But I was saying before, this is new season, new Grand Slam; you’re starting over again”.

Sharapova hadn’t beaten Williams since 2004 but started the 2015 Open final rematch in fine style.

“When I was serving, everything is just going to your side with that kind of power, so deep that you can not do anything”. Williams had 18 winners in the first set.

Kerber and Konta play later Thursday, with whoever wins facing a huge obstacle to be crowned champion. Radwanska is 1-3. At 34 years 176 days, he is the oldest man since 1979 to reach the Australian Open semifinals. “I’m happy to have that and I’ll be ready for the semi”, she said.