AUSTRALIAN OPEN
Venue: Melbourne Park Date: 18-31 January
BBC coverage: Every Murray match live on BBC 1 or 2
Daily from 0800 GMT: live on BBC Red Button/website, 5 Live sports extra
Daily from 0000 GMT: text commentary on BBC Sport website
 Williams was too strong for home favourite Stosur |
Serena and Venus Williams remain on course for a semi-final showdown at the Australian Open after both won to reach the quarter-finals. Defending champion Serena powered to a 6-4 6-2 win over Sam Stosur to book a meeting with Victoria Azarenka. Venus had more trouble in her fourth-round match, conceding the first set to Italian Francesca Schiavone before recovering for a 3-6 6-2 6-1 victory. The sixth seed faces China's Li Na, who stunned fourth seed Caroline Wozniacki. Wozniacki was 4-2 ahead in the opening set, but lost six games in a row to hand the initiative to Li. After calling for a trainer and receiving treatment on her right thigh, Wozniacki stopped the rot, but Li eventually served out a 6-4 6-3 win - her second in two weeks against the Dane.  | Sam beat me last time pretty convincingly, so I knew I had to do real good Defending champion Serena Williams |
"Against her you need to just play on your highest level the whole match through and keep concentrated and keep a lot of balls in play," said 19-year-old Wozniacki. "I need to go back and work and go back stronger. There's a long way to go and a long year ahead of me and now I'm going to practice and work even harder and come back stronger." Li, 27, joins countrywoman Zheng Jie in the last eight - the first time two Chinese players have ever reached the quarter-final stage of a Grand Slam. Asked how it felt to have two Chinese players through, 16th seed Li said: "Nothing better." Li's next opponent is Venus, an opponent the Chinese player overcame in their only previous encounter at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, winning 7-5 7-5. Seven-time Grand Slam champion Venus said: "I'm really just focusing on the now. "I don't make it too complicated. She's a very good player. Obviously to beat Wozniacki, you have to play very well consistently and I'm sure she did that." | 606: DEBATE |
Having lost the first set, Venus was a break down in the second before reeling off 12 of the next 14 games and sealing her progress. "She played really well in the first set. I have to give her credit, but I was able just to get some footing back in and start to execute the way I wanted to," said the 29-year-old American. "I realised I was rushing a little too much and I just really needed to take my time. That worked. "I'm ready to go and I feel very well. I'm hitting the ball pretty good, especially against her today." After Wozniacki's demise, Venus and Serena are the highest seeds left in the women's draw. Top seed Serena simply overpowered Stosur, who had beaten the world number one in their last meeting in Stanford last year. Serena conceded only seven points on serve in the match, including one double-fault in the second set. "I can't believe it - Sam beat me last time pretty convincingly, so I knew I had to do real good," said Serena. "I think my serve was pretty good. It's important when you're playing a local girl to not let the crowd get too involved or else they'll kill you." In the day's final match, which finished well after midnight in Melbourne, seventh seed Azarenka recovered from a set down to beat Russia's Vera Zvonareva 4-6 6-4 6-0 in two hours and 28 minutes.
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