MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Sa ikasiyam na pagkakataon, masisilayan ang husay at katatagan ni Venus Williams sa quarterfinals ng Australian Open.

Umusad ang 36-anyos at seven-time major winner nang patalsikin si No.181 ranked Mona Barthel, 6-3, 7-5, sa forth-round nitong Linggo.

Matikas na karibal si Barthel, nagwagi ng tatlong match sa qualifying bago ginapi ang dalawang Australian wild cards at si Olympic gold medalist Monica Puig sa uang tatlong round.

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Matikas ang kampanya ni Williams na hindi pa natatalo ng isang set sa torneo. Ito ang ikasiyam niyang quaterfinal stint sa Australian Open mula noong 1998.

“It was just not ideal to start the year like this, and it was a ton of anxiety, to be honest,” pahayag ni Williams.

“But really, at the end of the day, it’s about walking to the net, shaking hands as the winner. This is where you want to be ... but this is not the end-all for me. This is not the end goal.”

Sunod na haharapin ni Williams si No. 24-seeded Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, nagwagi kay No. 8 Svetlana Kuznetsova, 6-3, 6-3, sa opening match ng Day Seven sa Rod Laver Arena.

“I know what it’s like to be down on my luck. We’ve played a couple of tough matches before. Today I expected to have some competition,” pahayag ni Williams.