Notoriously cagey about injuries, Williams said it had been nothing more than a bit of treatment for food poisoning.
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Federer, a four-time Australian Open titlist, booked a spot in the quarterfinals with a straight-set win against 15th seed David Goffin of Belgium in the fourth round.
Berdych had won their past two meetings at Grand Slams but the most recent of those was four years ago, and Federer remained a solid favourite having won their past four matches. She hasn’t beaten Williams since, losing 17 in a row, including last year’s Aussie final and Wimbledon semifinals.
“So Steffi, write me please”, she said, laughing with the crowd on Rod Laver Arena. Each of the six previous times she has done it at Melbourne Park, she has won the title.
Federer still has his work cut out for him – he has never come back from two sets down against Djokovic to win a five-set match.
In her fourth-round win against No. 12 Belinda Bencic she had a career-high 21 aces.
The only potential cloud on the horizon for Williams at this stage of the tournament is her health.
It began with an epic semi-final at the 2005 Australian Open, with the American scraping home in a 2-6, 7-5, 8-6 thriller.
But the top-ranked Djokovic then raced to 5-1 lead and after Federer held serve to make the score 5-2, Djokovic served out the last game without dropping a point.
Williams was able to protect her serve in the ninth game and go on the attack against Sharapova. She was really explosive off the return.
“I think she started unbelievable, with such a power and speed”.
“I just feel like I m really confident in my game right now, not against her or against any other opponent, I m just really looking at me right now”, Williams said, after thrashing Margarita Gasparyan in the last round.
“Physically I’m feeling a lot better, mentally I needed that break after the Open”, Williams said, but “I didn’t think I would do this well this fast”.
Following that, defending champion Serena Williams will attempt to stay in the hunt for a seventh singles title when she plays Agnieszka Radwanska.
It was Serena’s 18th consecutive win over Sharapova – she hasn’t lost to the Russian since 2004 – and further showed the gap between a healthy Williams and the rest of the world’s top women’s players.
Radwanska suggested the world number one may be unbeatable in this kind of mood.
You know the Sharafamily will be behind her.
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However, Williams was clearly the stronger competitor in spite of the Pole’s superlalive record over the last four months (Radwańska has won four WTA tournaments since September). Williams hit 18 winners and Radwanska, in her fifth major semifinal, had one – in the fourth game. “I think that’s the reason I am still playing, because I know that I’m capable, you know, if I play well, of being on top”. She says those titles have given her a little bit of extra confidence in Melbourne.
