Australian Open women - Serena starts slowly but reaches fourth round

A frustrated Serena Williams was a picture of torment for a set and a half before she found her range to fend off Elina Svitolina 4-6 6-2 6-0 and reach the fourth round of the Australian Open on Saturday.

24 January 2015, 10:27am
by Staff Reporter

1 min read

Serena Williams plays a backhand in her third round match against Elina Svitolina

The top seed will now meet Spain's Garbine Muguruza, who defeated Switzerland's Timea Bacsinszky 6-3 4-6 6-0.

Williams, who had to save three set points in the opening set against Vera Zvonareva in the previous round, fell behind this time to her Ukrainian opponent before going up through the gears to win 4-6 6-2 6-0.

And the 33-year-old then revealed she had been inspired by seeing the score from her sister's match displayed on television screens inside Rod Laver Arena.

"I was a little upset coming out here because she was down a set and a break and I was destroyed," Williams said. "Then I looked up and she was 4-1 up so I thought, 'Serena you can do it too'. We always motivate each other."