MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Mistulang nagsagawa ng tennis clinics si 22-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams sa magaan na panalo kontra sa bagitong si Nicole Gibbs sa Rod Laver Arena.
Tangan ang malawak na karanasan, walang hirap na pinasuko ng American tennis star si Gibbs, 6-1, 6-3, para makaabante sa fourth round ng Australian Open at patatagin ang kampanya na maitala ang record 23rd Grand Slam title sa Open era.
“I don’t have anything to prove in this tournament here. Just, you know, doing the best I can,” pahayag ni Williams. “Obviously I’m here for one reason.”
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Mabigat ang unang laban ni Williams, ngunit tulad ng inaaasahan nadispatsiya niya sina Belinda Bencic, tangan ang career-high ranking 7, at Lucie Safarova, 2015 French Open finalist.
“She makes the court feel very, very small,” pahayag ni Gibbs.
“I was definitely feeling a lot of tension from early on in the match and it was showing in my serve and my forehand. I was catching the net a lot — the net felt 10 feet high today,” aniya.
Inaasahang mas matikas na Williams ang papagitna laban kay No. 16 Barbora Strycova, nagwagi kontra No. 21 Caroline Garcia ng France, 6-2, 7-5.
Umabante si Ekaterina Makarova sa 4-0 bentahe sa first set, ngunit nanganilangan siya ng halos tatlong oras para tuluyang mapatumba si WTA Finals champion Dominika Cibulkova 6-2, 6-7 (3), 6-3.
“An amazing fight,” bulalas ni Makarova, patungkol sa unang career win laban sa sixth-seeded na si Cibulkova, 2014 finalist sa Melbourne Park.
“I got, to be honest, a bit tight at 4-0 in the second set. But I’m still here.”
Sunod niyang makakaharap si 2016 semifinalist Johanna Konta sa rematch ng kanilang fourth-round encounter.
Umabante si Konta nang patalsikin ang dating No.1 na si Caroline Wozniacki, 6-3, 6-1 sa Margaret Court Arena.
“We played fourth round last year and we had an incredibly close one,” pahayag ni Konta. “I’m ready for a battle and it will be nothing short of that.”
Patuloy naman ang ratsada si Mirjana Lucic-Baroninang pabagsakin si Maria Sakkari, 3-6, 6-2, 6-3.
