All-American Quarterfinal Set as Serena Will Face Sloane Stephens

January 21, 2013 | By Long Island Tennis Magazine Staff
Serena_Williams_01_6
Photo credit: Kenneth B. Goldberg

Serena Williams continued her run toward a third consecutive major title, beating Maria Kirilenko 6-2, 6-0 on Monday to reach the quarterfinals at the Australian Open. Her 57-minute win over Kirilenko extended her current winning streak to 20 matches. Williams has lost only one match since her first-round exit at the French Open last year. Since then, she has won Wimbledon, Olympic gold, the U.S. Open, the season-ending WTA championships and the Brisbane International title.The 31-year-old can become the oldest woman to hold the world number one-ranking by winning her sixth Australian Open title.

Serena will next face 19-year-old American Sloane Stephens, who reached the quarterfinals at a major for the first time with a 6-1, 3-6, 7-5 win earlier Monday over Bojana Jovanovski of Serbia. Stephens, who is the first American woman other than Serena or Venus Williams to make a grand slam quarter-final since Melanie Oudin made the last eight at the 2009 U.S. Open.

The pair met in the quarter-finals in Brisbane before the Australian Open, where Williams won, and Stephens was adamant she would not be overawed by facing the tournament favorite.

Indeed, she had hoped before Williams played Maria Kirilenko in the fourth round that she would meet the 15-times grand slam champion."Not even!" Stephens said during her on court post match interview that she would not prefer to face Kirilenko, who she had beaten on clay in Strasbourg last year."You want a good match. You want a battle. You want a show. "But I’m not calling out Serena, but she knows I want to play her."

 

2013 Women’s Singles Australian Open Fourth Round Results

►3-Serena Williams (U.S.) beat 14-Maria Kirilenko (Russia) 6-2 6-0

►29-Sloane Stephens (U.S.) beat Bojana Jovanovski (Serbia) 6-1 3-6 7-5

►1-Victoria Azarenka (Belarus) beat Elena Vesnina (Russia) 6-1 6-1

►Svetlana Kuznetsova (Russia) beat 10-Caroline Wozniacki (Denmark) 6-2 2-6 7-5


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