Australian Open: Serena & Venus Through to Last 16 Via Comeback Wins

Serena Williams and Venus Williams both came back from a set down to advance into the round of 16 at the Australian Open on Saturday afternoon.

World number one Serena overcame Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina 4-6 6-2 6-0 while Venus, 34, beat Italy’s Camina Giorgi 4-6 7-6 (7-3) 6-1.

Serena will play Garbine Muguruza, who beat Timea Bacsinszky, 6-3 4-6 6-0, in the fourth round. It is a rematch of their second round clash at the French Open last year, which the Spaniard won. Serena and world No. 24 are tied on head-to-head 1-1 having won their first meeting at the Australian Open two years ago.

There was victory for men’s top seed Novak Djokovic and defending champion Stanislas Wawrinka in Melbourne as well.

Four-time champion Djokovic saw off Spain’s Fernando Verdasco 7-6 (10-8) 6-3 6-4 while Swiss Wawrinka defeated Jarkko Nieminen 6-4 6-2 6-4.

Djokovic takes on unseeded Luxembourgish professional Gilles Muller in the fourth round, while Wawrinka is up against Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, who reached the fourth round at Melbourne Park for the first time after defeating Canada’s Vasek Pospisil 6-2, 6-4, 6-4 in two hours.

Novak Djokovic is Bidding for His Fifth Australian Open Title in Melbourne in 2015. Image: Tennis Australia.
Novak Djokovic is Bidding for His Fifth Australian Open Title in Melbourne in 2015. Image: Tennis Australia.

It is the first time Venus is in the second week of a Grand Slam since Wimbledon 2011 but must now find another winning formula to outwit 6th seed Agnieszka Radwanska in the fourth round.

“It feels fantastic,” beamed Williams. “Especially when things happen in your life and it’s not in your control, it just feels awesome to be here. But I don’t want to leave it at that. I’ll try to keep going.”

Serena Williams Has Reached the Second Week of a Grand Slam For the First Time Since 2011. Tennis Australia.
Serena Williams Has Reached the Second Week of a Grand Slam For the First Time Since 2011. Tennis Australia.

Radwanska undermined a late surge to beat 30th seed Varvara Lepchenko earlier in the day, 6-0 7-5. Williams lead Radwanska 5-4 in their head-to-head but has not defeated the Pole since coming back from her seven-month hiatus due to Sjogren’s Syndrome from September 2011 to March 2012- Williams has yet to take a set against Radwanska in all three meetings since then.

“She’s played really well against me in the last matches,” Wiliams said. “I was hoping to have an all-American round of 16 with Varvara, but it didn’t work out.”

Victoria Azarenka advanced into her seventh straight Australian Open round of 16 with a 6-4 6-4 win over Zahlavova Strycova. Azarenka, who has now won 21 of her last 22 matches in Melbourne, will face Dominika Cibulkova in the next round.

Cibulkova topped a tight two-setter against France’s 19th seed Alize Cornet earlier in the day, 7-5 6-2. The Slovak is in the second week of a Major for the first time since reaching her first Grand Slam final in Melbourne a year ago, only to lose out in the third round of the French Open and Wimbledon and the first round of the US Open.

Victoria Azarenka Through to the Last 16 of the 2015 Australian Open. Image: tennis Australia.
Victoria Azarenka Through to the Last 16 of the 2015 Australian Open. Image: tennis Australia.

Third round men’s singles results

[1] Novak Djokovic (SRB) d. [31] Fernando Verdasco (ESP) 76(8) 63 64

[4] Stan Wawrinka (SUI) d. Jarkko Nieminen (FIN) 64 62 64

[5] Kei Nishikori (JPN) d. Steve Johnson (USA) 67(7) 61 62 63

[8] Milos Raonic (CAN) d. Benjamin Becker (GER) 64 63 63

[9] David Ferrer (ESP) d. [18] Gilles Simon (FRA) 62 75 57 76(4)

[12] Feliciano Lopez (ESP) d. Jerzy Janowicz (POL) 76(6) 64 76(3)

Gilles Muller (LUX) d. [19] John Isner (USA) 76(4) 76(6) 64

Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (ESP) d. Vasek Pospisil (CAN) 62 64 64