By Richard Pagliaro | Saturday, January 21, 2017
"I think I was born to play this game," said Venus Williams after defeating Mona Barthel to reach her ninth AO quarterfinal.
Photo credit: Mark Peterson/Corleve
Venus Williams believes she was born to play tennis.
Playing with passion in her record 73rd Grand Slam, Williams continues competitive rebirth in Melbourne.
Watch: Breaking Down AO Draw After Week One
Cracking drives into the corners, Williams dispatched German qualifier Mona Barthel, 6-3, 7-5, to advance to her ninth Australian Open quarterfinal.
“She played well today, so many balls came back,” Williams told Rennae Stubbs afterward. “I think I was born to play this game. I really do. I was meant to do this.”
Controlling rallies as if it was her birth right, Williams stretched the slower Barthel into the corners doubling the German’s winner output (31 to 14) and scoring four service breaks.
Making the most of a kind draw, the 13th-seeded Williams has not dropped a set in four tournament victories with three of those wins coming against opponents ranked outside the Top 100.
The oldest woman still standing in the draw dropped serve in the seventh game, but exploited three Barthel backhand errors breaking right back for 5-3.
The 2003 tournament runner-up served out the 42-minute opener at 15.
Tension tightened as the second set stayed on serve until the 11th game when Williams fired a forehand to break for 6-5. She served it out to reach her third major quarterfinal in her last six Grand Slam appearances.
Aiming for her first trip to the semifinals since 2003, the 36-year-old American will face another flat-hitting power player, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova for a spot in the final four.
In an all-Russian clash, Pavlyuchenkova pounded a weary Svetlana Kuznetsova, 6-3, 6-3.
Two-time Grand Slam champion Kuznetsova was coming off a draining 6-4, 5-7, 9-7, win over former No. 1 Jelena Jankovic in a match that spanned three hours, 36 minutes.
It was Pavlyuchenkova’s second conquest of Kuznetsova this month, following her straight-sets Sydney win, and sent the 27th-ranked Russian into her first Australian Open quarterfinal.
The 2016 Wimbledon quarterfinalist suffered successive opening round exits in her last two Melbourne appearances.
Playing first-strike tennis Pavlyuchenkova has beaten three Russian opponents and 11th-seeded Elina Svitolina, dropping just one set along the way.
Now, she’ll go up against the woman she calls “a legend.” Williams has won three of five meetings with Pavlyuchenkova though they have not squared off since the 2014 Rogers Cup.
The 2006 Australian Open girls’ champion recalls watching Venus and Serena battle it out in sisterly showdowns when she was a junior.
“I definitely feel like I've been long enough on the tour, but at the same time I can't compare myself to Venus and Serena, because they have been there,” Pavlyuchenkova said. “I remember I was a little girl holding the racquet was bigger than me, and they were ready to play in finals of a Grand Slam.
"So, of course, I can't compare myself to them, but at the same time I kind of also feel experienced.”