Serena Williams beats Sharapova, reaches Aussie Open semi

Williams has not lost to Sharapova since 2004 and she is now unbeaten in 18 matches against the Russian after winning 6-4 6-1 on Rod Laver Arena.

Fourth seed Radwanska earlier blasted into her fifth career Grand Slam semi-final with a 6-1 6-3 mauling of Carla Suarez.

“When you’re playing someone like that you have to come out with a lot of fire and intensity”.

Raonic will face No. 23 Gael Monfils, who reached the last eight in Australia for the first time in 11 trips with a 7-5, 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (4) win over Andrei Kuznetsov.

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.

And yet by playing below her best in a quarter-final against Sharapova, Williams delivered a timely reminder of her talent ahead of Saturday’s decider.

5 seed, 6-4, 6-1, in the quarterfinal round of the 2016 Australian Open on Tuesday in Melbourne.

Sharapova had a career-high 21 aces In her previous win against No. 12 Belinda Bencic.

An error-strewn service game from Williams saw her broken immediately and raised the prospect of a thrilling contest, however back-to-back double faults from Sharapova allowed her opponent to level shortly afterwards.

But Williams used nine aces in the first set alone to take the opener, 6-4, though not before Sharapova fought off three set points.

He made a fast start to the opening-set tie-break and was in control from then on, breaking twice in the second set and making the decisive move at 4-4 in the third. The aggressive returns finally helped Williams convert on her fourth set point, following a heavy ground stroke to the net and putting away a volley.

“I feel like if it was five-all, the momentum would have been a little bit different than going into where she played a really great beginning of the second set”, Sharapova said. Publicly, she has let it be known that she does not mind another meeting with the 21-time Grand Slam champion. She’s very explosive. She stays quite close to the baseline. Plus, when I play her, I know automatically I have to step up my game. She said that the upcoming match will certainly be a good one. She makes you work.

Despite all her success, it is a loss that is inspiring Williams in this tournament.

In men’s singles quarterfinals later Tuesday, top-seeded Novak Djokovic of Serbia played seventh-seeded Kei Nishikori of Japan. “It’s always frustrating [to lose to her]”. She’ll travel to Moscow for Fed Cup but does not intend to play, and then, “I don’t see myself playing anything before Indian Wells”.

Doubles semifinals are set: No.1s Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza will play No. 13 seed Julia Goerges and Karolina Pliskova, and No. 7 seed Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka play No. 15 seeds Xu Yi-Fan and Zheng Saisai.

“Nothing’s guaranteed in sports”, said Williams. “I’ve battled them for the biggest titles in sport”, Djokovic said.