By Alberto Amalfi | Friday, January 24, 2015

 

Serena Williams broke serve eight times and won eight straight games to close a 4-6, 6-2, 6-0 win over Elina Svitolina.

Photo credit: corleve

The Williams sisters didn't enter the doubles draw, but showed some synergy with singles comebacks today.

As Venus Williams was wrapping up a 4-6, 7-6 (3), 6-1 victory over Camila Giorgi on Margaret Court Arena, Serena Williams was taking notice next door.

Day 6: Venus Rises to Comeback Win over Giorgi

Staring down a one-set deficit for the first time in this Australian Open, Serena was pacing behind the baseline like a woman with a lot of issues on her mind.

The world No. 1 was trying to shake some life into her legs, inject some pace on her serve and find an answer for Elina Svitolina's aggressive baseline play on Rod Laver Arena.

Scanning the scoreboard during a changeover, Serena said the sight of her older sister's comeback inspired her own fight back.

The top seed began stepping inside the court and driving shots into the corners. Playing with more energy and hitting with more authority, Serena reeled off eight straight games to seal a 4-6, 6-2, 6-0 victory.

"I looked up when I was down," Serena told ESPN2's Mary Joe Fernandez. "And I saw [Venus] was up 4-1 in the third and I thought, 'Serena, you can play better. If this girl can do it and [with] all she's been through, then you can do it too.' She really motivated me without realizing it."

The five-time former champion looked lethargic at the outset. Svitolina was often quicker to the ball and beat up on Williams' serve, breaking three times to take the 36-minute opener.

"I was a little passive and she was hitting a lot of winners so I started to change the pace and started to play more aggressive," Williams said. "I thought I need to make my first serve and make it harder I have a great serve and I wasn't using it."

Tuning up her serve and attacking Svitolina's second serve, Williams turned the match around. Accelerating through her shots and playing sharper angles to spread the court, Williams broke six times over the final two sets, winning 12 of the final 14 games to surge into the fourth round for the 12th time.

It wasn't a flawless performance. For the second straight match, Serena stumbled out of the blocks in a slow start. She fought off three set points against Vera Zvonareva before rolling through 10 consecutive games in a 7-5, 6-0 triumph over the former world No. 2.

In the early stages of today's match, Williams lacked leg drive on serve and allowed Svitolina to take the first strike and push her into defensive positions at times.

Williams said she's aiming to play with more urgency at the outset of her next match.

"I definitely want to work on getting off to a quicker start," Williams said. " I can't say I'm really pleased about my game. I know I can play 10 times better and I'm gonna have to play better. So hopefully in the next round the real Serena will show up."

The U.S. Open champion knows she cannot afford lethargic lapses against fourth-round opponent Garbine Muguruza.

Playing heavy groundstrokes down the middle to deny Williams access to angles and attacking every second serve she saw, the Spaniard slammed the world No. 1 6-2, 6-2, in the Roland Garros second round last year. In their only other meeting, Williams swept Muguruza, 6-2, 6-0 at the 2013 Australian Open.

The 18-time Grand Slam champion has a long memory when it comes to losses and says she is pumped for the rematch.

"Losing to her actually helped me go home and work on some things I needed to work on," Williams said. "With that being said, she's a great player who does everything well and she hits really hard. I look forward to it."