Williams sisters ease through to fourth round in Aussie Open

The Williams sisters got some criss-cross revenge in Melbourne on Thursday, beating each other's nemesis in the second round.

Sixth seed Venus Williams was the first of the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour's star pair to move through, squandering a 5-3 lead in the second set but managing to close out Sybille Bammer in straight sets anyway, 62 75.

"Playing two lefties in the first two rounds is a little unusual, but I was up for the challenge," said Williams, who played Lucie Safarova in the first round. "I don't put a lot of importance on if I played well one day or not. It's really about winning the match and then improving for the next one. I'm happy to have won today."

Venus Williams has won 28 of her last 29 matches against lefties.

Top seed Serena Williams followed her big sister into the third round with a 62 61 win over Petra Kvitova. Williams hit 23 winners, eight of those aces.

"I thought today was a little bit better that my first match," Williams said. "I felt like I could have played a lot better today. She was definitely taking it to me, though. It was really good for me to play a lady like her."

Bammer is the only player to have played Serena multiple times and never lost (2-0 against her); ranked No.143, Kvitova became the lowest-ranked player ever to beat Venus at Memphis in 2008. They got their family revenge.

Other favorites moving through were No.4 seed Caroline Wozniacki, No.7 seed Victoria Azarenka, No.9 seed Vera Zvonareva, No.10 seed Agnieszka Radwanska, No.13 seed Samantha Stosur and No.16 seed Li Na. No.20 seed Ana Ivanovic and No.21 seed Sabine Lisicki were upset victims.

"I was really disappointed to fight back in the third set and then make a couple of double faults. My serve was definitely an area that let me down," said Ivanovic, who lost to Gisela Dulko, 67(6) 75 64. "It's hard. It hurts. I just have to be patient. It will take some time. I do feel better on the court. I feel like my old self. But there are still some areas I can't rely on - it's there in some matches, and not in others. I just have to keep my head up and try and improve."


Thursday, January 21, 2010

Singles - Second Round
(1) Serena Williams (USA) d. Petra Kvitova (CZE) 62 61
(4) Caroline Wozniacki (DEN) d. Julia Goerges (GER) 63 61
(6) Venus Williams (USA) d. Sybille Bammer (AUT) 62 75
(7) Victoria Azarenka (BLR) d. Stefanie Voegele (SUI) 64 60
(9) Vera Zvonareva (RUS) d. Iveta Benesova (CZE) 60 63
(10) Agnieszka Radwanska (POL) d. Alla Kudryavtseva (RUS) 60 62
(13) Samantha Stosur (AUS) d. Kristina Barrois (GER) 75 63
(16) Li Na (CHN) d. Agnes Szavay (HUN) 36 75 62
(17) Francesca Schiavone (ITA) d. Julie Coin (FRA) 63 64
Gisela Dulko (ARG) d. (20) Ana Ivanovic (SRB) 67(6) 75 64
Alberta Brianti (ITA) d. (21) Sabine Lisicki (GER) 26 64 64
(22) Daniela Hantuchova (SVK) d. (Q) Sofia Arvidsson (SWE) 64 61
(29) Shahar Peer (ISR) d. Tsvetana Pironkova (BUL) 61 64
(32) Carla Suárez Navarro (ESP) d. Andrea Petkovic (GER) 61 64
Tathiana Garbin (ITA) d. Yaroslava Shvedova (KAZ) 67(5) 62 60
(WC) Casey Dellacqua (AUS) d. Karolina Sprem (CRO) 76(4) 76(6)