Aussie Open: Serena advances, injured Venus crashes, Muguruza wins

SERENA Williams has continued her brilliant start to the tennis season, dismissing Nina Stojanovic in straight sets to progress to the third round at Australian Open 2021 on Wednesday.

Williams improved to 5-0 this year, and extended her winning streak to six matches, thanks to a 6-3 6-0 victory over the 24-year-old Serb.

She next meets Russia’s Anastasia Potapova – who she overwhelmed in first round at Melbourne Park last year – as she continues her campaign for a record-equalling 24th major singles title.

Also on Wednesday, after pulling off an impressive 6-2 6-4 victory over Italian power-hitter Camila Giorgi in the second round, Iga Swiatek gave a shout out to her sports psychologist Daria Abramowicz on court – an apt choice considering the Polish teen had just spent 80 minutes showcasing a great deal of mental strength.

The reigning Roland Garros champion has spoken openly about the difficulty of dealing with the pressure of expectations as a new Grand Slam winner on the scene. 

“Honestly it’s pretty hard. I’m pretty ambitious so I have my own expectations, so I have to deal with them, as well as the other expectations from outside,” Swiatek said on court when asked about the aftermath of her breakthrough at Roland Garros.

Eleventh-seeded Aryna Sabalenka survived a turbulent first set en route to a 7-6(5) 6-3 win over familiar foe Daria Kasatkina to move into the last 32.

The pair were squaring off in the second round for a second consecutive slam and produced an entertaining affair that gave Sabalenka her 17th victory from her past 18 matches.

Meanwhile, playing on back-to-back days at a major proved to be no problem for last year’s Australian Open runner-up Garbine Muguruza, who eased past Russian qualifier Liudmila Samsonova 6-3 6-1 to book a third-round date with Kazakhstan’s Zarina Diyas.

Difficult scenes unfolded on John Cain Arena when Venus Williams suffered an injury while down 1-5 in the opening set against Sara Errani.

The 40-year-old American rolled her ankle while attempting to return a shot from her opponent and screamed in agony from the pain. She received two medical timeouts for her ankle and her knee but was still limping on court upon resumption of play. Errani wrapped up the opening set moments later as she broke Williams’ serve.

Her movement still hampered, Williams refused to quit, and although she couldn’t win another game en route to a 6-1 6-0 defeat, she won the respect of her opponent and fans worldwide for showing so much heart in choosing to complete the contest.

ausopen.com.