Williams, Sharapova to meet in Australian Open quarterfinals

In the fourth round, Sharapova faces up-and-coming Swiss teen Belinda Bencic, who won her first two WTA titles in 2015 including at Toronto where she beat No. 1 Serena Williams in the semis followed by No. 2 Simona Halep in the final.

Williams beat world number 58 Margarita Gasparyan 6-2, 6-1 and barely broke a sweat in doing so, while Sharapova was forced to battle past 12th seed Belinda Bencic.

Williams dominated Margarita Gasparyan in a tidy 55 minutes, taking the match in straight sets (6-2, 6-1).

The humble teenager added that she was highly motivated to continue her rapid rise through the rankings and was soaking up her Grand Slam experience.

Sharapova, the 2008 champion and four-time finalist, had to play under an indoor match because play started while it was lightly raining, but the roof was open for Williams. “I would like to play outdoors, since this is an outdoor tournament, but I’ll do whatever is necessary”. “I think it would’ve been really easy for me just to go away and let her run away with the first set. Especially when it’s in the hand and wrist area, it’s in the back of your mind even though you’re feeling it. I felt really good and confident today about it”. “Physically very demanding. I’m just happy to get through this one”.

Djokovic’s 100 unforced errors were the most startling statistic of the day.

Serena Williams insists she has nothing to lose in the Australian Open quarter-finals despite her incredible record against Maria Sharapova.

The 34-year-old had schooled another Russian, Daria Kasatkina, in the previous round, crushing her in just 44 minutes, and handed the same lesson to the 58th-ranked player in the world. “Although I’d love to sit on the beach and read a book and drink margaritas, after a few days I get bored”, Sharapova said. I thought I would, I mean, not have kids at 20, but I would have children at this point.

“I think the person who’s winning could definitely feel the pressure because there is a lot of expectations”, Williams said.

She will face U.S. star Serena Williams in the quarter-finals.

A chink of light for Sharapova is that Williams can sometimes struggle under the weight of expectation as shown by her shock exit at last year’s US Open when she had been expected to close out a calendar grand slam.

“For my whole career I have been motivated by losses”. “Everything I’ve been trying to work on was kind of clicking”.

Nick Kyrgios won’t be sanctioned by tournament officials for answering his phone on court before a mixed doubles match at the Australian Open because the call was taken before the pre-match meeting.

“What surprised me? That her scream is not so loud”, Bencic said.

The 12th-seeded Bencic, of Switzerland, put up a fierce challenge against Sharapova and neither player landed a service break until Sharapova won the decisive game.