<p>World No.1 Serena Williams overcame a first-set scare from a plucky Elina Svitolina to advance to the fourth round of the Australian Open tennis tournament Saturday.<br /><br />Despite losing the first set and being forced into several grinding rallies, Williams eventually withheld the threat of her Ukrainian opponent and eased through to the next round with a 4-6, 6-2, 6-0 victory, reports Xinhua.<br /><br />The three-set win means a potential semifinal with her elder sister remains possible, after Venus Williams also survived losing the first set to account for Italian Camila Giorgi.</p>.<p><br />On the men's side, reigning champion Stanislas Wawrinka barely broke into a sweat in defeating Jarkko Nieminen, while imposing Canadian Milos Raonic continued to find form with a comfortable straight sets win over Benjamin Becker.</p>.<p><br />On center court, despite losing two of her first three service games, Serena Williams battled to a hard fought victory over 26th-seed Svitolina.<br /><br />The Ukrainian had set the agenda in the match, breaking Serena in the first game and cruising to a first-set win. However, it subsequently sparked the No.1 into life.</p>.<p><br />After taking the match to a deciding set, Serena saved two break-point opportunities early in the third, pumping her fist in the direction of her coach's box after eventually holding serve.<br /><br />From that moment on, she was unstoppable, claiming the third set 6-0 to set up a fourth-round tie with Garbine Muguruza, who she lost to at last year's French Open.<br /><br />"It was a good loss. As angry as I was, it was the best loss I had the whole of last year," Serena said after the match, when recalling last year's defeat.<br /><br />"That one in particular made me realise what I needed to work on. It opened my eyes towards a lot of things. I was like 'oh my god, if I don't change, then I'm going to be forever in the same position'. It actually ended up helping me a lot."</p>.<p><br />Her sister Venus also progressed with a 4-6, 7-6 (7-3), 6-1 win over Giorgi.<br />The Italian had served for the match at 5-3 in the second, only for Venus to gallantly fight back and break in four of Giorgi's next six service games.<br /><br />On the men's side, Wawrinka hit 55 winners to 18 to easily see off the threat of Niemenen at Rod Laver Arena with 6-4, 6-2, 6-4 win.<br /><br />Speaking after the match, Wawrinka refused to suggest the pressure that comes with his position as the reigning champion could become a hindrance, saying 2014's triumph is well and truly in the past.</p>.<p><br />"I don't try to think or compare anything. For me, it's a new tournament. It's been going well, I'm playing great tennis, that's it. I'm focused match after match. That's what is important," Wawrinka told reporters after his match Saturday.<br /><br />"I had some amazing memories from last year, for sure. But it's really important to stay on what's happening today and what's going to happen tomorrow."<br />No.8 Raonic was also hardly troubled as he defeated Becker 6-4, 6-3, 6-3.<br /><br />It continued the Canadian's run of three consecutive straight sets victories at this year's tournament.<br /><br /> However, he is yet to pass the fourth round of the competition in four attempts and will have to beat 12th seed Feliciano Lopez to break that trend.<br /><br />Lopez had earlier been forced to navigate two tiebreakers in order to defeat Jerzy Janowicz 7-6 (8-6), 6-4, 7-6 (7-3).<br /><br />Meanwhile, in the women's draw, two-time winner Victoria Azarenka continued her comeback from injury with a 6-4, 6-4 win over 25th seed Barbora Zahlavova-Strycova.<br /><br />Earlier in the day, No.6 seed Agnieszka Radwanska recorded a comfortable 6-0, 7-5 win over American Varvara Lepchenko, while world No.11 Dominika Cibulkova won 10 of the last 12 service games to defeat Alize Cornet 7-5, 6-2.<br /></p>
<p>World No.1 Serena Williams overcame a first-set scare from a plucky Elina Svitolina to advance to the fourth round of the Australian Open tennis tournament Saturday.<br /><br />Despite losing the first set and being forced into several grinding rallies, Williams eventually withheld the threat of her Ukrainian opponent and eased through to the next round with a 4-6, 6-2, 6-0 victory, reports Xinhua.<br /><br />The three-set win means a potential semifinal with her elder sister remains possible, after Venus Williams also survived losing the first set to account for Italian Camila Giorgi.</p>.<p><br />On the men's side, reigning champion Stanislas Wawrinka barely broke into a sweat in defeating Jarkko Nieminen, while imposing Canadian Milos Raonic continued to find form with a comfortable straight sets win over Benjamin Becker.</p>.<p><br />On center court, despite losing two of her first three service games, Serena Williams battled to a hard fought victory over 26th-seed Svitolina.<br /><br />The Ukrainian had set the agenda in the match, breaking Serena in the first game and cruising to a first-set win. However, it subsequently sparked the No.1 into life.</p>.<p><br />After taking the match to a deciding set, Serena saved two break-point opportunities early in the third, pumping her fist in the direction of her coach's box after eventually holding serve.<br /><br />From that moment on, she was unstoppable, claiming the third set 6-0 to set up a fourth-round tie with Garbine Muguruza, who she lost to at last year's French Open.<br /><br />"It was a good loss. As angry as I was, it was the best loss I had the whole of last year," Serena said after the match, when recalling last year's defeat.<br /><br />"That one in particular made me realise what I needed to work on. It opened my eyes towards a lot of things. I was like 'oh my god, if I don't change, then I'm going to be forever in the same position'. It actually ended up helping me a lot."</p>.<p><br />Her sister Venus also progressed with a 4-6, 7-6 (7-3), 6-1 win over Giorgi.<br />The Italian had served for the match at 5-3 in the second, only for Venus to gallantly fight back and break in four of Giorgi's next six service games.<br /><br />On the men's side, Wawrinka hit 55 winners to 18 to easily see off the threat of Niemenen at Rod Laver Arena with 6-4, 6-2, 6-4 win.<br /><br />Speaking after the match, Wawrinka refused to suggest the pressure that comes with his position as the reigning champion could become a hindrance, saying 2014's triumph is well and truly in the past.</p>.<p><br />"I don't try to think or compare anything. For me, it's a new tournament. It's been going well, I'm playing great tennis, that's it. I'm focused match after match. That's what is important," Wawrinka told reporters after his match Saturday.<br /><br />"I had some amazing memories from last year, for sure. But it's really important to stay on what's happening today and what's going to happen tomorrow."<br />No.8 Raonic was also hardly troubled as he defeated Becker 6-4, 6-3, 6-3.<br /><br />It continued the Canadian's run of three consecutive straight sets victories at this year's tournament.<br /><br /> However, he is yet to pass the fourth round of the competition in four attempts and will have to beat 12th seed Feliciano Lopez to break that trend.<br /><br />Lopez had earlier been forced to navigate two tiebreakers in order to defeat Jerzy Janowicz 7-6 (8-6), 6-4, 7-6 (7-3).<br /><br />Meanwhile, in the women's draw, two-time winner Victoria Azarenka continued her comeback from injury with a 6-4, 6-4 win over 25th seed Barbora Zahlavova-Strycova.<br /><br />Earlier in the day, No.6 seed Agnieszka Radwanska recorded a comfortable 6-0, 7-5 win over American Varvara Lepchenko, while world No.11 Dominika Cibulkova won 10 of the last 12 service games to defeat Alize Cornet 7-5, 6-2.<br /></p>