{"id":34685,"date":"2021-02-14T04:41:30","date_gmt":"2021-02-14T05:41:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=34685"},"modified":"2021-02-14T06:12:41","modified_gmt":"2021-02-14T06:12:41","slug":"serena-pays-tribute-to-venus-after-fighting-win","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=34685","title":{"rendered":"Serena pays tribute to Venus after fighting win"},"content":{"rendered":"

Serena Williams<\/a> got a Valentine's Day win to keep her firmly in contention for an eighth Australian Open title, fending off a strong challenge from world No.7 Aryna Sabalenka to progress to the quarter-finals with a 6-4 2-6 6-4 win<\/a>.<\/p>\n

After breaking in the 10th game of the first set to clinch it, the 23-time Grand Slam champion had to rise to the level of her 22-year-old opponent in the decider after the momentum shifted firmly onto the Belarusian's side of the net.<\/p>\n

Watch the Australian Open with live streams of every court at 9Now. Click here to start watching!<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

In an age-defying decider, she managed to do just that, stunning Nine's commentators with her ability to blunt the power of Sabalenka before seizing the initiative at key moments.<\/p>\n

Williams broke early in the third set and got out to a 4-1 lead before an absorbing match was given another twist, with Sabalenka fighting back to draw level at 4-4.<\/p>\n

However, just when it looked like the American champion might be headed for the exit door, she stepped up again to hold serve for 5-4 before a near flawless return game finally cracked the rising star.<\/p>\n

After the match Williams used her on-court interview with Nine's Jelena Dokic to give a reminder of her unshakeable self-belief, revealing she had been confident throughout the swinging three-setter that the match was on her racquet.<\/p>\n

She then turned to her player's box in the stands to pay tribute to her 40-year-old sister Venus, who bowed out in the second round in a one-sided match against Italy's Sara Errani<\/a>, doing so bravely after severely twisting her ankle in the first set.<\/p>\n

The younger Williams said her legendary career had been made considerably easier by her ever-present sister who has been a constant support since they arrived on the professional tour together more than two decades ago.<\/p>\n

\"Serena<\/p>\n

"It helps a great deal, having Venus around, not just now in the twilight of our careers, but also in the beginning," Williams said. <\/p>\n

"It's so cool because you know, no one really understands you know. No one understands the level of intensity or the pressure or the losses or the wins unless it's someone else in the locker room that's a champion as well, so she gets it. So it's always good…"<\/p>\n

Williams was then put on the spot by Dokic, who asked if her fourth round win had been her only gift on Valentine's Day, as the cameras turned to her husband Alexis Ohanian in the stands.<\/p>\n

\"Serena<\/p>\n

"You definitely put him in an awkward position," Serena said, confirming that he hadn't given her a gift. <\/p>\n

"I actually don't celebrate Valentine's Day or holidays for that matter. It's good, I think he's pretty lucky because he never has to give anything. <\/p>\n

"But he always surprises me when I least expect it, every day is like a special day for us." <\/p>\n

Williams will face the winner of tonight's match between two Grand Slam champion's, last year's French Open winner Iga Swiatek and Romanian star Simona Halep.<\/p>\n

For a daily dose of the best of the breaking news and exclusive content from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by<\/strong><\/em> clicking here!<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Serena Williams got a Valentine's Day win to keep her firmly in contention for an eighth Australian Open title, fending off a strong challenge from […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34685"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=34685"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34685\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":34687,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34685\/revisions\/34687"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=34685"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=34685"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=34685"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}