MELBOURNE, Australia — Serena Williams avenged her heaviest Grand Slam defeat with a comeback 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 win over Garbine Muguruza on Monday to reach the Australian Open quarterfinals.
The top-ranked Williams was pushed all the way by No. 24-seeded Muguruza, who matched her in the heavy-hitting rallies, and who conceded only four games to her in the second round of the French Open last year.
Williams appeared to be laboring at times, and had a serious cough. She struggled with her serve in the first set, but found her range in the second.
She will next play Dominika Cibulkova, who reproduced the kind of tennis that helped her reach the final last year as she beat two-time champion Victoria Azarenka 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 in the fourth round.
Under the closed roof at Rod Laver Arena, Cibulkova pounded 44 winners, including a dozen on her backhand side, and broke former No. 1-ranked Azarenka’s serve seven times.
Five-foot-three Cibulkova used a powerful backhand to win important points in the first set, and then relied on her backhand to maximum effect.
“As you can see, I’m not the tallest player on tour, I need to have something extra if I want to beat these top players,” she said. “This is my energy on the court, this is how I play.”
Results 7B
