Serena Williams battled into her 11th Australian Open quarterfinal on Monday, joining sister Venus Williams, in her unrelenting quest for a record Grand Slam title and the return of her top world ranking. It was Strycova who drew first blood, breaking the first Williams serve, but with the sweat starting to drip off her she immediately broke back with a sizzling crosscourt forehand. It was woeful serving from both players with Williams broken again before they both began to warm to the task. ‘C’mon!’Williams finally held serve in the fifth game but it didn’t last long when Strycova broke again to go 4-3 ahead. Strycova was wilting and Williams was in control, and despite being broken when serving for the match she broke straight back to book her place in the last eight.

Source: Hindustan Times January 23, 2017 03:53 UTC