Serena Into Round of 16 With 61st Career Australian Open Victory

World number one Serena Williams defeated Daniela Hantuchova for her 61st career match win at the Australian Open on Friday, 6-3, 6-3. With the win, Serena moves past Margaret Court for the all-time record for most match wins at the Aussie Open. Up next for Serena is Ana Ivanovic, a 6-7(8), 6-4, 6-2 winner over Samantha Stosur on Friday.

“I feel good to have gotten through that one because it was tough conditions out there, but I was happy to win,” said Serena after the win.

Serena not only broke the record for most career match wins in Melbourne, she also tied the record for most career matches played at the Australian Open, with her 69th. Lindsay Davenport also played 69 Aussie Open matches.

“I thought was great quality match today,” said Ivanovic of her match with Stosur. “Just really happy after losing the first set to still stay composed and play some good tennis and win.”

Lifetime against Serena, Ivanovic is winless at 0-4.

And while Stosur bowed out of Melbourne on Friday, another Aussie moved on to the Round of 16 as Casey Dellacqua defeated Jie Zheng in straight sets 6-2, 6-4.

"I've been training in this heat and I was happy to be out here in Rod Laver [Arena] again," said Dellacqua. "It feels pretty good, I didn't know if I'd ever be back in the fourth round of the Australian Open or any Grand Slam … now I'm back in the fourth round and it feels awesome."

Dellacqua will next meet Canadian Eugenie Bouchard, who cruised to a 6-2, 6-2 win over American Lauren Davis.

“It was definitely hot today, the hottest I felt in any of my matches so far,” said Bouchard of the continued Melbourne heat wave with temps in excess of 100 degrees. “I was happy to win in straight sets. I thought I played well, tried to be aggressive, really tried to control the point.  Made for quick points, as well.”

Also moving into the Round of 16 was China’s Li Na who battled past Lucie Safarova on Friday, 1-6, 7-6(2), 6-3.

“I won the match, and I'm still in the tournament now,” said Liu. “It was a difficult day for me but I was really happy with the way I was fighting on the court from the first point until the last point."

Up next for Li is the 22nd-seeded Ekaterina Makarova, a 6-4, 6-4 winner Friday over Monica Niculescu.

Angelique Kerber overcame American Alison Riske, 6-3, 6-4, to set up a fourth round encounter with the 28th-seeded Flavia Pennetta of Italy. Pennetta punched her ticket to the Round of 16 after a 6-1, 7-5 win over Mona Barthel.