MELBOURNE, Australia — Serena Williams moved a step closer to successfully defending her Australian Open title and extracted some family revenge Saturday with a 6-0, 6-3 victory over Carla Suarez Navarro.
Last year, Suarez Navarro beat Venus Williams in the second round. The Spaniard didn't even get close this time.
Serena Williams' only real difficulty at Hisense Arena was in closing the first set, needing eight set points in a game that went to deuce 13 times and lasted longer than the previous five games combined.
Top-ranked Roger Federer had a 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 win over No. 31 Albert Montanes of Spain at nearby Rod Laver Arena. It was the 28-year-old Swiss star's 50th win at Melbourne Park, where he has won three of his record 15 Grand Slam singles titles.
Kim Clijsters came to the Australian Open as an inspiration to her countrywomen and mothers everywhere after her unexpected U.S. Open victory.
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Any chance of back-to-back major titles ended in 52 minutes Friday evening in a 6-0, 6-1 third-round loss to 19th-seeded Nadia Petrova.
Defending champion Rafael Nadal also was upset with his game, although he had a victory to show for it — a 6-4, 6-2, 2-6, 7-5 decision over Germany's Philipp Kohlscreiber at night.
