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| Serena Williams (not in picture) and her sister Venus Williams in their women's doubles match against opponents Romanian I. Olaru and O. Savchuk of Ukraine on the fifth day of play at the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne on January 22, 2010. The Williams sisters won 6-1. 6-2. AFP |
MELBOURNE, Jan 23, 2010 (AFP) - Top seeds Roger Federer and Serena Williams moved up a gear Saturday with straight sets wins as they closed in on more silverware at the Australian Open.
The world's premier players have 26 Grand Slam titles between them and both look primed to add to their collections.
The Swiss great made short work of Spanish 31st Albert Montanes 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 while Williams completed a 6-0, 6-3 demolition of Carla Suarez Navarro as the fourth round of the opening Grand Slam of the season took shape.
Also staying on track was men's third seed Novak Djokovic, sixth seed Nikolay Davydenko and ninth seed Fernando Verdasco.
Joining Williams on the women's side of the draw was sister Venus, seventh seed Victoria Azarenka, ninth seeded Vera Zvonareva and 13th seeded Samantha Stosur.
Federer, with 15 Grand Slam titles, now faces a round of 16 clash against either Lleyton Hewitt or Marcos Baghdatis, who play later, while Williams will take on Stosur.
"I've come through a difficult draw, I feel physically fine and mentally fresh, but the opponents will get tougher from here," said Federer.
"So far it's been great. Obviously you elevate your game gradually as the opponents get harder, so I'm happy the way I feel."
The imposing and super-fit Stosur, blessed with one of the biggest serves in women's tennis, had a breakthrough 2009, making the semi-finals at the French Open and was in top form Saturday.
She outclassed Italy's Alberta Brianti 6-4, 6-1 on Rod Laver Arena and is gunning for another crack at Williams, who she beat when they last met in Stanford in July.
"We've had a couple of close matches the last two times we've played and I got the last one so I'm going to ride with that and go into the match feeling pretty confident," Stosur said.
Williams was also looking forward to the rematch.
"I think she's playing great. She beat me the last time we played, so she has a lot of momentum. A ton of momentum," she said.
"I definitely expect the crowd to root for Sam. Hopefully, my mom will cheer for me. I should be fine."
sister Venus set up a fourth round clash with Italian 17th seed Francesca Schiavone by beating Australian Casey Dellacqua 6-1, 7-6 (7/4).
Also pushing through were Azarenka, who destroyed Italy's Tathiana Garbin 6-0, 6-2, and Zvonareva, a 6-1, 7-5 winner over Argentine Gisela Dulko.
They will play each other for a place in the quarters.
"I think I did very well today. I had a good game plan and I definitely played it very well," said Azarenka. |
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