His next opponent will be the victor of the match between Roger Federer and David Goffin being played later Sunday.
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Top-ranked Djokovic won 6-3, 6-7 (1), 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 in four hours, 32 minutes and will meet No. 7 Kei Nishikori in the quarterfinals.
Serena Williams of the United States hits a forehand return to…
In a night match on Hisense, No. 4 Agnieszka Radwanksa rallied from 5-2 down in the third to win 6-7 (6), 6-1, 7-5 against Anna-Lena Friedsam, who finished the last two games hobbling and in tears after taking a medical timeout for what appeared to be cramps. She had a really good win.
The Russian hung on to take a 6-5 lead and finally won the set after 64 minutes when Bencic scooped a backhand wide. Despite all that, he was ready to take tips from the public after his performance.
Novak Djokovic of Serbia changes his socks during a break in his fourth round match against Gilles Simon of France at the Australian Open tennis championships in Melbourne, Australia, Sunday, Jan. 24, 2016.
“OK, thanks buddy”, Djokovic responded, laughing.
“I love how it’s just this little world here that no one can discover or appreciate unless you come”. At the Melbourne Cricket Ground, across the train tracks from Melbourne Park, 100 is a cherished number for runs scored by a batsman. She has looked dominant in her matches minus the one poor set she had in her third round match against Lauren Davis where she hit 33 unforced errors. “Nevertheless, he was fighting”. “I never play thinking I want to be (equal) with the great Margaret Court, I just play just want to win a Grand Slam and that’s it. So here I am, I’m just playing for me”.
“I had no idea”, she said, when told Sharapova was up next by a courtside interviewer. “A lot of players will feel better with Novak out of the draw”.
Williams has now had three relatively straightforward matches after being pushed by Camila Giorgi in the first round, and should be well rested when she faces Sharapova, who she beat in last year’s final.
It feels ironic that Williams should have developed a close bond over the last nine months with Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook’s chief executive and the author of the women-in-work treatise Lean In.
The 34-year-old Williams was so close to a calendar-year Grand Slam in 2015, winning the Australian, French and Wimbledon titles before her upset semifinal loss to Roberta Vinci at the US Open.
That’s the driving factor here.
Tomic, Australia’s top-ranked player and now at a career high of 17, said that Federer’s criticism would serve as motivation to push up the rankings. “Good thing is (Sears) is conscious, he’s speaking”, Sousa said.
“I expect to play her – I look forward to playing the best in the world and that’s what she’s proven in the a year ago”, she said.
Williams was broken in the first game of the fourth round match, only the second time she had dropped serve in the tournament, before she rattled off the next four games and went on to seal the set in 30 minutes. It’s a statistic she tries to block from her mind.
It’s my game. As I said, I don’t think it can get much worse than this.
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Williams has not lost to Sharapova since 2004, a run of 17 successive victories, and holds an 18-2 career record overall against the five-time grand slam victor. There is no reason I shouldn’t be looking to improve and to getting my game in a better position than any previous round. “It’s only going to be tougher, especially against Serena”, she said.
