Australian Open: Serena sizzles in straight-sets win

World number one qualifies for fourth round amid intense heat.

MELBOURNE: World number one Serena Williams made light of scorching temperatures on the fourth and final day of the Melbourne Park heat wave to blast her way into the last 16 of the Australian Open for the loss of just a dozen games on Friday.

Li Na’s progress was less imperious and the Chinese fourth seed escaped defeat by a matter of centimetres in her third round match, while Spain’s David Ferrer continued to carve his way through the men’s draw largely unnoticed.

A fourth day of temperatures in excess of 42 degrees Celsius meant the demand for ice, liquid and sunscreen remained high at Melbourne Park but there was no repeat of Thursday’s suspension of play.

Temperatures are forecast to drop considerably on Saturday, a huge relief to players and organisers alike after four days of rows over what constitutes dangerous conditions.



“I definitely look forward to playing in the cooler temperatures,” said Serena, whose 6-3, 6-3 win over Daniela Hantuchova was a record 61st at the Australian Open, taking her past local great Margaret Court’s 60.

Li secures hair-breadth win

Meanwhile, a few centimetres was all that stood between Li and an early exit at the Australian Open, as the fourth seed saved a match point before beating Czech Lucie Safarova 1-6, 7-6,(7/2), 6-3 in their third round encounter.

Li, a finalist at Melbourne Park in 2011, thought she was beaten when left-hander Safarova struck a backhand down the line on match point in the second set.

But the ball was called out and even though Safarova challenged, the replay showed it was just a few centimetres long.

From there Li cut down on her mistakes, took the tiebreak 7-2 and then eased through the decider to take her place in the last 16.

In another match, ninth seed Angelique Kerber had no such problems in her routine 6-3, 6-4 triumph over Alison Riske.

Ferrer wears down Chardy

Third seed Ferrer wore down Frenchman Jeremy Chardy in blistering heat to reach the fourth round at a 15th consecutive grand slam with a 6-2, 7-6 (7/5), 6-2 victory.

Even the super-fit Spaniard, whose brick-wall playing style should suit the conditions, was troubled by the hot weather as he prowled the baseline for 132 minutes.

“I won in three sets, so it’s good,” said the 31-year-old, a semi-finalist at Melbourne Park for two of the last three years.

Meanwhile, Tomas Berdych silenced a boisterously partisan crowd on Hisense Arena with a comfortable third round 6-4, 6-2, 6-2 victory over Bosnia’s Damir Dzumhur.

Another match saw Novak Djokovic’s bid for a fourth successive title at Melbourne Park shifting up a gear with an impressive 6-3 6-3 7-5 win over Uzbek Denis Istomin, booking the Serb a place in the fourth round.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 18^th, 2014.

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