MELBOURNE (Reuters) — World number one
Serena Williams made light of scorching temperatures on the fourth and
final day of the Melbourne Park heatwave to blast her way into the last
16 of the Australian Open for the loss of just a dozen games on Friday.
Li Na's progress was less imperious and the Chinese fourth seed
escaped defeat by a matter of centimeters in her third round match,
while Spain's David Ferrer continued to carve his way through the
men's draw largely unnoticed.
Novak Djokovic later attempts to clear the third hurdle in his path
to a fourth straight Australian Open title when he takes on Denis
Istomin in the final match on Rod Laver Arena.
A fourth day of temperatures in excess of 42 degrees Celsius (110
degrees Fahrenheit) meant the demand for ice, liquid and sunscreen
remained high at Melbourne Park but there was no repeat of
Thursday's suspension of play.
Li's compatriot Zheng Jie seemed to suffer most obviously during her
6-2 6-4 loss to local Casey Dellacqua on Rod Laver Arena before a
cooling breeze eased conditions.
"I was a little bit sick and also my mind was not working, I felt,"
said the former Melbourne Park semi-finalist, who admitted she might
need to train in hotter conditions before next year's tournament.
"I just watched the ball and just hit it. I didn't know where I hit
it."
Temperatures are forecast to drop considerably on Saturday, a huge
relief to players and organizers alike after four days of rows over
what constitutes dangerous conditions.
"I definitely look forward to playing in the cooler temperatures,"
said Williams, whose 6-3 6-3 win over Daniela Hantuchova was a
record 61st at the Australian Open, taking her past local great
Margaret Court's 60.
LOWER EXPECTATIONS
That Williams achieved her victory in 80 minutes without firing on
all cylinders — "I wasn't fully on today" — was another warning to
her rivals that her sensational form in 2013 was by no means a final
flourish at the end of her career.
"For whatever reason, I feel like I just never was really able to
reach my full potential, and I feel like recently I just have been
able to do a little better," said the 32-year-old, who is in the
hunt for her sixth Australian Open title.
With just the one grand slam title to the American's 17, Li attracts
considerably lower expectations but was still expected to deal
easily enough with Lucie Safarova on Hisense Arena.
The Czech, however, raced through the first set 6-1 and then forced
a match point in the second, which she failed to convert by the
smallest of margins when her backhand down the line was called out,
a decision confirmed by Hawk-Eye.
"I think the five centimeters saved my tournament," said Li, who
rallied to win the subsequent tiebreak and then seal 1-6 7-6 (7-2)
6-3 victory. "If she had hit it in... the whole team would be on the
way to the airport."
Ninth seed Angelique Kerber, Li's potential quarter-final
opponent, had no such problems in her routine 6-3 6-4 triumph
over Alison Riske.
Super-fit Ferrer's attritional style was made for hot conditions
and he survived a second set wobble to wear down Frenchman
Jeremy Chardy to reach the fourth round at a 15th consecutive
grand slam with a 6-2 7-6 (7-5) 6-2 victory.
Ranked and seeded third after Andy Murray missed the back end of
last season, Ferrer next faces Florian Mayer with Tomas Berdych
or Kevin Anderson waiting in the quarter-finals.
BERDYCH CRUISES
Anderson came from two sets down for the second time in four
days to reach the last 16, outlasting Edouard Roger-Vasselin 3-6
4-6 6-3 7-6 (7-5) 7-5 in just under four hours.
The tall South African also trailed 0-4 in the fourth set and
3-5 in the fifth and let out a huge roar when the Frenchman went
long to hand him the victory on Margaret Court Arena.
"It was a lot of emotions at the end," said Anderson. "Just a
lot of excitement. A little bit of disbelief as well."
Berdych, by contrast, eased into the fourth round without having
dropped a set all week courtesy of a 6-4 6-2 6-2 victory over
Bosnian qualifier Damir Dzumhur on Hisense Arena.
Even without the accordion that serenaded his victory over Ivan
Dodig on Wednesday, Dzumhur once again attracted lively support
from his compatriots but Berdych smashed 13 aces and 32 winners
to silence them.
With Rafa Nadal, Roger Federer and Murray in the other half of
the draw, Berdych knows he will rarely have a better chance to
reach a first semi-final at Melbourne Park.
"You know, it's always about the draw," said the Czech seventh
seed, who has won all nine of his matches against Anderson.
"Really, if I'm going to have it once pretty good, yes, I take
it."
Stan Wawrinka had a day off on Friday after Vasek Pospisil
withdrew from the tournament with a bad back, allowing the Swiss
eighth seed to rest up before his likely fourth round tie
against Djokovic.
