After Serena Williams beat Maria Sharapova in the quarterfinals in the stadium named after the Australian great, Rod Laver Arena, the tournament finally awarded the man known as “Rocket” his replica trophy.
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Top-ranked Williams beat Sharapova 6-4, 6-1 in the quarterfinals today in Melbourne, her 18th consecutive victory and 19th in 21 career meetings back to 2004.
Losing to the same opponent 18 times in a row would be hard for any player to take, but imagine what it would feel like if you were ranked No. 5 in the world, had won five Grand Slam titles and had been the world’s highest-earning sportswoman for more than a decade. Sharapova said Williams was, as usual, just too good.
There were also no caveats about Williams’ hopes of equalling Steffi Graf’s open-era record by winning a 22nd grand slam title at Melbourne Park. When you’re playing someone like that who is so great you have to play with fire and intensity.
“She played quite explosive”, Sharapova said. “Yeah”, Sharapova added in the same report.
The Russian had opportunities, most notably with two break points at the end of the first set, but Williams delivered at the decisive moment and it was one-way traffic thereafter.
“She’s at a different level”, Sharapova said. She makes you go back to the drawing board. The doctor’s visit seemed to work, as she stormed through the second set 6-1 to reach the semifinals.
She jumped to a 2-0 lead after having broken Williams’ serve in the opener. But Williams soon dominated the third game and broke to quickly level at 2-2.
After his long five-setter against Gilles Simon, when he made a startling 100 unforced errors, Djokovic cut that down 27 in a faster-paced, shorter-rally encounter against Nishikori, a U.S. Open finalist in 2014.
While her record against Williams is not yet on the scale of Sharapova, it is still dismal.
Williams had medical treatment between sets, and again in the second during a changeover, but it wasn’t clear what the problem was.
Williams moves on to the semifinals to face No. 4 Agnieszka Radwanska.
Victoria Azarenka, who took Williams to three sets in three classic matches a year ago, has the only real chance of beating Williams at the tournament, but the Belarusian was eliminated in the quarterfinals by Germany’s Angelique Kerber 6-3 7-5.
“Everything from here on out, every match, is a bonus for me”.
The two are friends off court and the American said if Radwanska won, she would wish her well.
“We are big rivals, we played so many times against each other”, said Djokovic.
He has won the match in Australia four times, and this win against Berdych helps him get back at him after he lost to Berdych in 2010 in the Wimbledon match, as well as in 2012 during the US Open. “Then I have to focus on my service games, this way you can put pressure on Novak”. “I don’t see myself playing anything before Indian Wells [in March]”.
After winning the first six games of her semifinal match against Agnieszka Radwanska, Serena Williams began to show signs of tightness.
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The Spanish 10th seed was no match for her Polish opponent, who is now on a 13-match unbeaten run following her success at the Shenzhen Open last month.
