Sport
Australian Open 2013: Serena Williams dominant as she progresses to quarter finals
Serena Williams in action against Ayumi Morita.
Serena Williams wasted little time in advancing to the Australian Open quarter-finals with 6-2, 6-0 demolition of 14th-seed Maria Kirilenko on Monday.
The third seed stormed through 6-2, 6-0 and will play fellow American Sloane Stephens for a place in the semi-finals, where she could potentially face defending champion Victoria Azarenka.
In winning, Williams made her 35th Grand Slam quarter-final as she seeks to add to her 15 major titles.
“I played really well. I didn’t expect to play so well. I was like ‘wow’,” she said. “I saw that I had 95 percent first serves in the first set and thought, ‘Who is this girl?’, because I don’t usually do that.”
The players had met five times before and Williams had won all the encounters, which didn’t bode well for the Russian.
Kirilenko had three break points in Williams’ opening service game but she blew her chance for an early advantage and she was pushed hard in the next, but held to keep the tie at level-pegging.
