By Erik Gudris | Sunday, January 22, 2017
Serena Williams overcame not playing at her best and a tricky opponent to reach the Australian Open quarterfinals.
Photo Credit: Mark Peterson/Corleve
“It's good to know that I have a Plan B.”
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That’s what Serena Williams said shortly after getting through an off-day on Rod Laver Arena as she reached her tenth consecutive Grand Slam quaterfinal, this time at the Australian Open.
Williams fought off No. 16 seed Barbora Strycova whose unpredictable but solid all-court game proved troublesome for the six-time event winner in their fourth round meeting. Now Williams, who still has not dropped a set all tournament, finds herself closing in on a potential record 23rd major singles title.
Williams, who struggled all afternoon to get her usually reliable serve going, instead was forced to find other ways to get past Strycova.
Both players struggled early on in their service games to start the match. After trading service breaks, Williams and Strycova each finally managed to hold serves and found themselves level at 3-all.
Williams, who hit multiple errors on both her forehand and backhand wings, managed to climb ahead for 5-4. The next game proved a mini-marathon with Strycova serving to stay in the set.
Strycova, with potent serving and even several serve and volley plays, fought off three sets point to level at 5-all.
The second seeded Williams a few games later would then again get multiple set points chances on Strycova’s serve. Yet, Williams ended up sending shots into the net or well long on her opportunities. Williams finally converted on her eighth set point thanks to an awkward net cord winner.
Williams cleaned up her game midway through the second set. On serve at 2-1, Williams took advantage from a short volley from her opponent to crunch a passing shot winner. Williams then broke for 3-1 after Strycova made another volley error.
Williams, having sorted herself out, soon opened up a 5-2 lead. Though the match felt like a certainty for Williams, there were still a few more games to be played.
Williams served for the match up 5-3, but then threw in an odd game filled with soft serves and groundstroke errors. Strycova broke back and found herself serving to get level once again.
Williams countered with several big backhand winners in the next game to eventually give herself a match point. A final Williams passing shot proved too tough for Strycova to handle up at net. Williams then celebrated the 7-5, 6-4 victory.
Williams hit 28 winners but also committed 46 unforced errors compared to just nine winners and 14 unforced errors from Strycova.
Williams will next face the winner between Ekaterina Makarova and Joahnna Konta.