Serena Williams battled a misbehaving serve and scorching heat but stayed cool under pressure in a 7-5 6-4 win over Czech Barbora Strycova to reach the Australian Open quarter-finals on Monday. Second seed Williams was broken three times in the opening set at Rod Laver Arena and again when coasting to the finish line in the second but shifted up a gear when it counted to close out the match in one hour and 46 minutes.
Category: Ekaterina Makarova
The Latest: Hingis, Vandeweghe out of doubles in 2nd round
United States’ Jennifer Brady, right, is congratulated by Russia’s Elena Vesnina after winning their third round match at the Australian Open tennis championships in Melbourne, Australia, Saturday, Jan. 21, 2017. Croatia’s Mirjana Lucic-Baroni celebrates after defeating Maria Sakkari of Greece in their third round match at the Australian Open tennis championships in Melbourne, Australia, Saturday, Jan. 21, 2017.
Pliskova, Konta win 1st-round matches at Australian Open
Karolina Pliskova and Johanna Konta had their Grand Slam breakthroughs last year, and both prepared for the season’s first major with title runs in Australia. They both won their first-round matches at the Australian Open in straight sets on Tuesday, and are growing in confidence.