Simona breezes past Venus to seal last 16 encounter with her younger sibling
World number one Simona Halep set up a headline last 16 showdown with Serena Williams by beating her sister Venus on Saturday as Serena's relentless drive towards more Australian Open glory cranked up another gear.
On day six at Melbourne Park, the Romanian finally hit form to pull off her best win of the year and cruise past the veteran American 6-2, 6-3.
"I was super-motivated today," she said after being taken to three sets in both her opening two matches as she bounces back from a herniated disc that ended her 2018 season early.
"I have nothing to lose," she added, looking ahead to Monday's clash against 23-time Grand Slam winner Serena. "I playing against a great champion. Its's going to a bigger challenge but I'm ready to face it."
Williams crushed Ukrainian Dayana Yastremska 6-2, 6-1 before consoling her at the net as the teenager burst into tears.
The ominous 37-year-old, seeded 16, has dropped just nine games in her three matches so far on her first return to the tournament since winning it in 2017 while pregnant.
"I just play each match at a time, play as hard as I can and do the best I can. That really is all you can do," she said as she zeroes in on an eighth Australian title and a record-equalling 24th Slam crown.
Fourth seed Naomi Osaka looked down and out against Taiwanese veteran Hsieh Su-wei before battling back to win 7-5, 4-6, 6-1 and set up meeting with Latvia's Anastasija Sevastova.
‘Die or win'
Osaka's win equals the 21-year-old's best performance at the Australian Open, where she reached the last 16 in 2018 but lost to Halep.
But she looked headed for the exit when she conceded the first set and was down 4-1 in the second, before winning five straight games to force a decider.
Sixth seed Elina Svitolina struggled with a painful shoulder complaint that required treatment at every changeover, and medical timeouts, before she somehow beat China's Zhang Shuai 4-6, 6-4, 7-5 as the temperature rose in the centre court sunshine.
She will next meet 17th-seeded American Madison Keys.
Pliskova through
Czech seventh seed Karolina Pliskova battled through to the last 16 with a tough three-set win over Italy's Camila Giorgi.
Pliskova downed the 27th seeded Italian 6-4, 3-6, 6-2 after a 131 minute arm wrestle to set up a fourth round meeting with Spanish 18th seed Garbine Muguruza.
The 26-year-old has been a regular in the second week of Grand Slams in recent years, reaching the quarters or better six times since late 2016, but is still searching for a breakthrough win.
She has a 7-2 winning record over two-time Grand Slam champion Muguruza, including four straight sets victories on hard courts.
But even if she gets past the Spaniard she is in a tough section of the draw that pits her against either world number one Simona Halep or 23-time major winner Serena Williams in the last eight.
