Serena sizzles after Barty, Kenin script hard-fought wins
By Nandita Bose, Steve Keating and Michael Martina
Yarra Valley Classic
MELBOURNE (Reuters) – Serena Williams sounded a warning for her fellow Australian Open contenders on Wednesday with a sleek 6-1 6-4 victory against Bulgarian Tsvetana Pironkova to reach the quarter-finals of the Yarra Valley Classic in Melbourne.
After top two seeds Ash Barty and Sofia Kenin faced steep challenges to keep their preparations on course, Williams put up a contrasting show at Melbourne Park’s Margaret Court Arena in the evening session.
World number one Barty, who won 6-0 4-6 6-3, showed no signs of fatigue from having played a late match on Tuesday and started in top gear against Marie Bouzkova at the Margaret Court Arena before her Czech opponent staged a fightback.