Moments
before she started pounding the first of her many winners past Serena
Williams at the Australian Open, Ana Ivanovic listened intently to the
announcer on Rod Laver Arena outlining the extraordinary accomplishments
of the woman soon to be across the net from her.Williams, a five-time
champion at Melbourne Park, won 78 of her 82 matches in 2013, and was
coming into the fourth round on the second-longest winning streak of her
career -- 25 matches.It was her 70th match at the Australian Open, a
record in the Open Era. And then, of course, there's the 17 major
singles championships."When we were starting the match and they were
talking about all her Grand Slam titles, it was quite impressive,"
Ivanovic said, recalling the pre-match introductions. "But I didn't
think much about the occasion and who I was playing, because it can get
overwhelming."True to her word, Ivanovic, who had never won a set
against Williams in four previous meetings, took on the biggest serve in
women's tennis without fear. And she hit pinpoint forehands -- 20 of 33
winners were on that side -- to all areas of the court.China Fork Extensions Williams,
who later revealed she was carrying a back injury, didn't even bother
trying to chase some of them down.Just under two hours later, it was
game, set and match: 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 and an upset victory to put Ivanovic
into the quarterfinals of the Australian Open for the first time since
her run to the final in 2008.
The
action will be intense at the Australian Open, but there's still plenty
of time for fun. Check out some shots of the lighter side of the
event."It's not easy playing such a champion ... but she is also just a
human," said Ivanovic. "I just went out there swinging."Williams never
got into the swing of things, at least not to way Ivanovic expected. She
noticed from the outset that Williams' serve seemed to lack its usual
zip. Williams also made some very uncharacteristic errors on her
backhand, a telltale sign of back pain."It wasn't the best," Williams
admitted later, sounding surprised when asked about the back injury. Her
coach had let it slip after the players walked off the court that
Williams had been experiencing back pain for days."Again, I don't want
to blame anything. I feel like Ana deserves all the credit," Williams
added. "I feel she played unbelievable today. I think she went for her
shots. It's not like I gave her the match."Ivanovic will next play
19-year-old Canadian Eugenie Bouchard, who had a 6-7 (5), 6-2, 6-0 win
over local hope Casey Dellacqua.The other quarterfinal in Ivanovic's
half will feature two-time finalist Li Na, who beat No. 22 Ekaterina
Makarova 6-2, 6-0, and No. 28 Flavia Pennetta, who defeated No. 9
Angelique Kerber 6-1, 4-6, 7-5.The men's draw progressed more according
to rankings when three-time defending champion Novak Djokovic and No. 3
David Ferrer advanced to the quarterfinals, along with No. 7 Tomas
Berdych and No. 8 Stanislas Wawrinka.Djokovic continued his bid for a
fourth straight Australian title with a 6-3, 6-0,honeycomb paper balls6-2
win over Fabio Fognini. Ferrer beat Florian Mayer 6-7 (5), 7-5, 6-2,
6-1 and will next play Berdych, the 2010 Wimbledon finalist.
Djokovic
will play Wawrinka, who finished off the Sunday night program at Rod
Laver with a 6-3, 7-6 (3), 7-6 (5) win over Tommy Robredo."I've been
elevating my game as the tournament is going on," said Djokovic, who
later entertained the crowd with an impersonation of his new coach,
Boris Becker. "The general feeling on the court, all the shots,Our store
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welcome choose! using the court position really well, being aggressive,
playing my style of the game."Follow what the top players are saying,
get updates from the scene and more with our Australian Open Twitter
feed.On Monday, Djokovic's major threats to the title -- top-seeded
Rafael Nadal, Wimbledon champion Andy Murray and 17-time Grand Slam
singles winner Roger Federer -- will play their fourth-round matches.
Two-time defending champion Victoria Azarenka and No. 3 Maria Sharapova
are in action on the women's side.Ivanovic will have the day off --
she's planning a celebratory dinner with some of her Serbian relatives
who live in Melbourne.paper drinking straws wholesaleAsked
if having Williams out of any Grand Slam makes a difference, Ivanovic
said it "definitely" did, then explained why in effusive terms."I think
she's done so much for the sport, and she's still doing it," Ivanovic
said. "She's such a great athlete and a great person to have on tour. We
want her, because it pushes us."With the challenge met on Sunday,
Ivanovic, at the urging of several fans, attempted to throw a souvenir
towel into the stands. The breeze blew it back at her.Custom LOL Assassins Taipei pure cotton hoodyShe was plainly off the mark, perhaps for the only time all day.
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