-
Serena Williams - Source: Reuters -
Related
Serena Williams has admitted her sister Venus' loss in the
Australian Open has spurred her on to try to capture a fourth
crown.
Williams made a less than convincing transition into the fourth
round on Saturday when she defeated China's Peng Shuai 6-1
6-4.
Despite the scoreline, the second seeded American struggled in the
second set after her serve was broken early and Peng sprang to a
3-1 lead.
She battled back to level at 3-3 then ran up three match points in
the deciding game, sealing the win with an easy smash.
Williams said she needed to improve heading into the second week,
for herself and the family after Venus went down to Spaniard Carla
Suarez Navarro in the second round.
"It obviously increases my motivation and my desire to win,
hopefully to do better," Williams said.
"It was definitely a lot better than my second round (win over
Argentinian Gisela Dulko).
"But I'm still trying to work on some things and hoping they'll
come together."
Williams sprayed a series of loose shots off both wings in the
second set and said she had lost focus a little.
"I started making more errors and then I lost my serve a couple of
times. Then I think I put too much pressure on myself. The, next
thing I know, I was down," she said.
"I think I hit some wild shots on my backhand, so that was kind of
crazy."
Despite having to fight back from behind, Williams said she was
never uncomfortable while trailing and turned her position into a
positive one.
"I seem to play well when I get down for whatever reason," she
said.
"So once I got down I was a little frustrated. I was like, you know
Serena, sometimes you just play better when you're down - I started
playing better."
Williams said she was feeling "a little rusty" this week and is
hoping for a boost in her next match, against Victoria Azarenka of
Belarus, who beat the 2006 champion Amelie Mauresmo 6-4 6-2.
Azarenka reached 15 in the world in 2008, appearing in finals on
the Gold Coast and in Prague.
Williams beat Azarenka in the corresponding round here last year
but will not be taking the 19-year-old lightly.
"I saw her play a lot in Brisbane a couple of weeks ago, she's been
around for a while," she said.
"Obviously she's young and desperate to win and hungry, all the
qualities that it takes to be pretty good."
