A dominant Roger Federer joined the Williams sisters in the Australian Open quarter-finals yesterday, while Li Na ensured China has two players in a Grand Slam last eight for the first time.
The world No. 1 Swiss shattered the hopes of local fans by crushing Lleyton Hewitt 6-2, 6-3, 6-4 for his 15th consecutive win over the Australian 22nd seed.
It was an imperious display that set up the 15-time Grand Slam champion with an intriguing last eight showdown with the in-form Nikolay Davydenko, who has won their last two meetings.
The Russian sixth seed ensured he stayed alive by coming through a marathon five-setter against Spanish ninth seed Fernando Verdasco, prevailing 6-2, 7-5, 4-6, 6-7 (5/7), 6-3.
“I’m in for a good match, for sure. I favor my chances in a best-of-five set match. We’ll see how it goes,” Federer said of Davydenko, while paying tribute to Hewitt. “I have always had some great battles with Lleyton.”
Third seed Novak Djokovic, the 2008 winner, also progressed with an emphatic 6-1, 6-2, 7-5 win over Poland’s unseeded Lukasz Kubot and will next meet French 10th seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who he beat in the 2008 final.
Tsonga won a thriller against Spanish 26th seed Nicolas Almagro, 6-3, 6-4, 4-6, 6-7 (6/8), 9-7.
They join Spanish defending champion Rafael Nadal, British fifth seed Andy Murray, seventh seed Andy Roddick of the US and 14th seeded Croat Marin Cilic in the quarters.
Like Federer, defending women’s champion Serena Williams was a class apart as she devoured Australia’s Sam Stosur 6-4, 6-2.
She will play seventh seed Victoria Azarenka as she guns for a fifth title, after the Belorussian beat ninth-seeded Russian Vera Zvonareva 4-6, 6-4, 6-0.
Her sister, Venus, seeded sixth, found the going tougher against Italian 17th seed Francesca Schiavone, losing the first set, before bouncing back for a 3-6, 6-2, 6-1 win.
They join Li, Justine Henin, Nadia Petrova, Maria Kirilenko and Zheng Jie in the last eight.
Venus is in her 11th Australian Open campaign, but is yet to win the singles crown, in stark contrast to Serena, but the elder Williams is not beating herself up about her comparative lack of success, insisting a major part of her game plan was staying positive.
She said she could break her Australian drought this year.
“Yeah, I’m ready to go and I feel very good,” said Venus Williams, who has won five Wimbledon and two US Open titles.
She faces Li next after the 16th seed upset Danish fourth seed Caroline Wozniacki 6-4, 6-3.
Her victory broke new ground for Chinese tennis, with the 27-year-old joining compatriot Zheng in the last eight, the first time two Chinese players have reached that stage of a Grand Slam.
Li is looking forward to meeting Venus, who she beat in their only previous match at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
“It was a good experience for me, for my tennis, but I just want to forget because I play her again. I want to look forward,” Li said.
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