Logo

MELBOURNE (AFP) – Rusty triple champion Serena Williams booked an Australian Open fourth round clash with rising teen star Victoria Azarenka Saturday as Gael Monfils spearheaded the French men's revolution.

Williams, the tournament favourite, crushed China's Peng Shuai 6-1, 6-4 to set up an intruiging showdown with Azarenka after the Belarusian ended any hope Amelie Mauresmo had of repeating her 2006 heroics here.

Stung by a listless "D-minus" performance in the second round and sister Venus' shock exit at the same stage, Williams stamped her authority on the match early.

Peng mounted a stiffer challenge in the second set but couldn't match the American's power, leaving Zheng Jie as China's only player left in the draw.

Wimbledon semi-finalist Zheng, the 22nd seed, beat Ukraine's Kateryna Bondarenko 6-2, 6-2 to continue her best-ever Australian Open showing.

"It was definitely a lot better than my second round. But, you know, I'm still trying to work on some things and hoping they'll come together," said Williams.

"I'm feeling a little rusty, for whatever reason. I'm hoping my next round I'll be a little better."

She added that her sister's shock upset in the second round had given her extra motivation to win a 10th Grand Slam title.

"It obviously increases my motivation and my desire to win and hopefully do better."

The woman who beat Venus, Spain's unseeded Carla Suarez Navarro, continued her surprise march through the draw, easily beating countrywoman Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez 6-1, 6-4.

Next up for her is another Spaniard, Anabel Medina Garrigues, who sent Italian 12th seed Flavia Pennetta packing 6-4, 6-1

Suarez Navarro said she wasn't thinking too far ahead.

"Maybe, maybe not," she said of her quarter-final chances.

"I play now with Anabel, so we'll see -- I don't know. I just want to enjoy today's win before I start thinking about the next match."

Williams eliminated the big-hitting Azarenka from last year's Open but the Belarus teen is a far better player now and full of confidence.

"We'll see how it goes, I'm sure it'll be a great match," said Azarenka on the Williams showdown.

While the focus has been on the big name stars on the men's side, France has three contenders still in the tournament and looking dangerous.

Twelfth seed Monfils came into the Open overshadowed by higher-profile countrymen Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Gilles Simon, but has been making his mark with some impressive performances.

He produced another one Saturday to dismiss 17th seeded Spaniard Nicolas Almagro 6-4, 6-3, 7-5 and will play either Simon or Croatia's Mario Ancic for a place in the quarter-finals.

Monfils dominated Almagro over the early part of the match, breaking him once in the first set and twice in the second to open up a 2-0 lead.

Almagro fought back hard in the third set and games went on serve until Monfils produced the killer punch.

"I think I played a good game again today," he said.

"Everything was great. I mean, the concentration, physically also. So I'm very happy with that."

Tsonga plays later Saturday against Israeli qualifier Dudi Sela.

World number one Rafael Nadal takes on Germany's Tommy Haas while fourth seed Britain's Andy Murray faces Austria's Jurgen Melzer in evening play.

MELBOURNE – Seven-time Grand Slam champion Venus Williams was dumped from the Australian Open on Thursday but it was a different story for Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray who barged into the third round.

Venus lost the plot against Spain's unseeded Carla Suarez Navarro, crashing 2-6, 6-3, 7-5 for the upset of the tournament so far and continuing her unhappy association with the event which she has never won.

Her sister Serena lived to fight another day, but she too struggled.

The three-time champion needed to mount a second-set recovery after Gisela Dulko took a 5-2 lead. The American finally woke up to reel off five games in a row and tame the Argentinean 6-3, 7-5.

"When you go out on court you have got to expect anything," said Venus, the sixth seed.

"I'm not surprised at how well she played. I haven't quite figured out the areas of my game that went wrong, but I have to credit her."

In hot and blustery conditions, Nadal crushed Roko Karanusic of Croatia 6-2, 6-3, 6-2 to stay on track for his first hardcourt Grand Slam title.

The world number one wrapped up his one-sided match in 97 minutes to set up a clash with 79th-ranked German Tommy Haas.

"He played aggressively, it's not easy to play against someone who plays inside the court and hits big shots with the forehand," Nadal said.

"But I feel very comfortable here and I'm very happy with the victory."

Joining him in the next round was Britain's fourth seed Murray, who wasted little energy in disposing of Spain's Marcel Granollers 6-4, 6-2, 6-2.

"I've been playing really well for the last six or seven months and it's probably the best I have felt coming into a Grand Slam," said the Scot, adding that he was confident he could go "deep" into the tournament.

Serena, who next plays China's Peng Shuai, acknowledged her performance had not been good, rating it a D-minus.

"Today I was at like a D-minus at best," she said.

"But it's good that I was able to win, too, when I wasn't playing my best. I definitely will try to do better.

"She had some opportunities but I never felt like I was going to lose."

She joins top seed Jelena Jankovic, third seed Dinara Safina and fifth seed Ana Ivanovic in the third round after they all assured their berths on Wednesday.

While Serena is considered the favourite, despite her unconvincing performance, the unassuming Elena Dementieva is in a rich vein of form.

The Russian fourth seed steamrolled over the Czech Republic's Iveta Benesova 6-4, 6-1 for her 12th straight victory this year after claiming back-to-back titles in Auckland and Sydney.

The Beijing Olympic gold medalist is seen as one of the most consistent players never to have won a Grand Slam, and she senses her time is coming.

"I'm not thinking about my chances," she insisted. "I'm really enjoying the way I'm playing right now and I just want to go as far as I can, just enjoy every single match I play here."

Also safely through was eighth seed Svetlana Kuznetzova and 2006 champion Amelie Mauresmo, who survived a scare from British qualifier Elena Baltacha to win 4-6, 6-3, 6-2.

Next up for Maursemo is dark horse Victoria Azarenka, who continued her recent impressive form by breezing past the Czech Republic's Petra Kvitova 6-2, 6-1.

Among the men, fifth seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga survived a 195-minute marathon to down Croatian Ivan Ljubicic 6-7 (4/7), 7-6 (10/8), 7-6 (8/7), 6-2.

Meanwhile, Chilean 13th seed Fernando Gonzalez sped past Argentina's Guillermo Canas 7-5, 6-3, 6-4, setting up a clash with 24th seed Frenchman Richard Gasquet.

They were joined by sixth seed Gilles Simon, fellow Frenchmen Gael Monfils, in-form Spaniard Fernando Verdasco and American James Blake.

MELBOURNE – Spanish world number one Rafael Nadal began his Australian Open in awesome fashion on Tuesday while Andy Murray enjoyed the easiest of starts to his quest for a first Grand Slam title.

Last year's runner-up Jo-Wilfried Tsonga led a parade of seeds into round two but Australian hopes took a hit as Lleyton Hewitt crashed out in his worst result since 2002.

The new-look Nadal, who replaced his usual vest and baggy pants with T-shirt and above-knee shorts, destroyed Belgium's Christophe Rochus in the mismatch of round one.

Rochus was unable to get on the scoreboard until the ninth game as Nadal dismissed any concerns about his ongoing knee problems to win 6-0, 6-2, 6-2 in one hour and 17 minutes.

Nadal is starting his first season ranked top as he bids to add a maiden Australian Open title to his Wimbledon and French Open crowns.

"I'm just trying to improve and be humble because every match is different," he told the crowd.

"I'm very happy because I'm over the injury and at one of the greatest tournaments in the world."

Earlier Murray was handed his first-round win when Romania's Andrei Pavel retired with a long-standing back injury and later quit tennis for good.

"Obviously you don't want to finish a match like that. Andrei's been having problems with his back for a year," said the world number four, who is seeking Britain's first Grand Slam win in 73 years.

"It's unfortunate he had to stop but I felt like I was hitting the ball well."

American James Blake overcame dogged resistance from Canadian qualifier Frank Dancevic, as Gilles Simon, Gael Monfils and Richard Gasquet completed a good day for France.

"You can't get a much more exciting three-setter," Blake said. "It was a little too exciting but he played some great tennis."

Hewitt's comeback from injury stalled but he produced some typically battling tennis in a five-set defeat to Fernando Gonzalez.

The former number one refused to contemplate retirement and insisted he was on track for a return to the top 10.

"He's a tough player to play against for anyone, even the best guys like Roger (Federer), Rafa (Nadal), purely because he wants to play on his terms," Hewitt said.

French livewire Tsonga electrified Melbourne Park with his run to last year's final and he was again impressive winning 6-4, 6-4, 6-0 against Juan Monaco, shrugging off a recent back injury.

"I try to play my best every time -- I just try to be as good as I can be," he said.

Radek Stepanek, Ivo Karlovic, Igor Andreev and Nicolas Almagro were the other seeds through along with Jurgen Melzer, who killed off Japanese prodigy Kei Nishikori.

"No, I didn't have any pressure because, of course, he's good and he's seeded. I just didn't play well today," Nishikori said.

In the other half of the draw, three-time winner Roger Federer plays Russian Evgeny Korolev while defending champion Novak Djokovic faces Jeremy Chardy of France.