No quarter given

MELBOURNE, January 21 

Serena Williams staved off a spectacular fightback from world No. 1 Simona Halep to reach the quarterfinals of the Australian Open on Monday and remain on course for her first Grand Slam triumph since becoming a mother. Williams’ thrilling 6-1 4-6 6-4 win was a major step towards the 37-year-old American great equalling Australian Margaret Court’s all-time record of 24 Grand Slam wins as she set up a last-8 meeting with Czech seventh seed Karolina Pliskova.

The seven-time Australian Open champion was eight weeks pregnant when she won the last of her 23 Grand Slam titles at Melbourne Park and only returned to tennis last year after the birth of her daughter Alexis Olympia in September, 2017.

She made two more Grand Slam finals last year only to lose both but this triumph over the world’s leading player felt like another hugely significant step on the road to regaining her old dominance. Williams showed she has lost none of her brutal power and athleticism against French Open champion Halep, who has finished the last two years on top of the women’s rankings.

The Romanian broke Williams’ serve in the first game but that was the only one she managed for the rest of the opening set as the American bulldozed her way through the set in 20 minutes, serving it out with an ace. Coming into the match with eight wins in her nine encounters against Halep, it looked as if Williams would breeze through the match after the opening set mauling she handed out. 

But the 27-year-old fought back by forcing to move Williams more and drew level at one set apiece after breaking her a second time. “That’s why she’s number one. She literally lifted her game to a new level. I didn’t. I kind of stayed at the same level, and I should have looked at my game, as well,” Williams said.

The deciding set turned into a war of attrition as both players landed heavy groundstrokes and Williams had to save three break points for a crucial 3-3 hold.

Williams landed the decisive break in the next game before holding firm to seal the match in an hour and 47 minutes when Halep hit a forehand wide.

For a place in the semifinals, Williams will meet Pliskova, who thrashed twice Grand Slam champion Garbine Muguruza 6-3 6-1 earlier on Monday. — Reuters

Still learning

Serena Williams is a year short of spending a quarter of a century as a professional player but the learning has never stopped for the 23-time Grand Slam winner. “I’m still learning, which is, at my age and my point in my career, I think admirable and exciting that I still have things I can learn from,” she said. “I feel like each day, each match, and each tournament I’m learning something, and I think today I’m just learning that I have to fight for titles. I have to fight for matches,” she added. “But that goes to show you that you have to play well for two sets. You have to bring it every single point, every single game, until the match is literally over.” 

Close to 10/10

World No. 1 Simona Halep shrugged off her fourth-round loss to Serena Williams that threatens her top ranking. Halep, 27, arrived at Melbourne Park on a five-match losing streak. When asked to rate her campaign she replied: “Close to 10. I have the courage to say that, because I took the risk to stay home so much (for off-season rest). I haven’t prepared for the highest level in tennis, but I didn’t play bad, so I’m happy about the way that it’s been going this tournament. I take only the positives. I had great matches... The main goal is just to play as good as I can every match, to win every match I play, so the ranking doesn’t really matter.”

Day 8 highlights: tireless Djoker, escape artist and broken dreams

Worn down

Top seed Novak Djokovic wore down Russia’s Daniil Medvedev 6-4 6-7(5) 6-2 6-3 to reach his first Australian Open quarterfinal since winning the title in 2016. The Serb converted seven of the 18 break points he carved out against the big-serving Medvedev and struck 43 winners to the Russian’s 38 as he wrapped up victory in 3 hours, 15 minutes.

Kei to success

An exhausted Kei Nishikori battled from two sets down to outlast Spain’s Pablo Carreno Busta 6-7(8) 4-6 7-6(4) 6-4 7-6(8) in an epic encounter and book his place in the quarterfinals. Dragged into a five-set dogfight for the third time in four rounds, Nishikori struggled to deal with the physical and mental strain early on as Carreno Busta took a two-set lead only for the eighth seed to claw his way back to level the contest. Nishikori will next take on Novak Djokovic. “I feel like it’s not enough,” Nishikori joked courtside when reminded that he had spent 13 hours and 47 minutes on court in the first four rounds. “It’s not easy, of course. Today was the toughest match. I will try to recover well tomorrow.”

OSAKA RALLIES TO VICTORY

Naomi Osaka dropped the opening set before coming back to defeat Latvian Anastasija Sevastova 4-6 6-3 6-4 and reach the Australian Open quarterfinals for the first time. Up next for Osaka is WTA Finals champion Elina Svitolina, who overcame a mid-match blip to beat American Madison Keys 6-2 1-6 6-1. 

Bag tossed, racquet broken

The longest match of the tournament, between Kei Nishikori and Pablo Carreno Busta ended on a sour note as the Spaniard cried foul over a line call while leading 8-5 in the final tiebreak. After falling to defeat, he tossed his racquet bag across the court and screamed at the chair umpire. “I’m very sad ... because after a five-hour match, the way that I leave the court wasn’t correct and I’m so sorry,” the world No. 23 said. Meanwhile, furious fourth seed Alexander Zverev crashed out on Monday but said he “felt better” after smashing his racquet to pieces in frustration. Zverev erupted in the second set of a 6-1 6-1 7-6 (5) fourth-round humiliation by Canadian 16th seed Milos Raonic, hammering his racquet into the ground eight times to leave it a mangled mess. “Yeah, it made me feel better. I was very angry, so I let my anger out,” he said. And the volatile German was surprised when asked if he had done it before. “You never watched my matches? You should watch my matches,” he smiled.