World number one Serena Williams turned to her sibling for motivation during a difficult day at Melbourne Park.Sister Venus was Serena Williams source of motivation as the latter rallied from a set down to reach the fourth round of the Australian Open on Saturday. World number one Serena overcame a slow start to beat Ukrainian Elina Svitolina 4-6 6-2 6-0 on Rod Laver Arena, on the same day Venus edged Italian Camila Giorgi 4-6 7-6 (7-3) 6-1. Serena, as has been the case at Melbourne Park so far, was out of sorts in the opening set with a total of 14 unforced errors. But after dropping the first set, the five-time champion overpowered Svitolina with 45 winners to set up a last-16 showdown with Spaniard 24th seed Garbine Muguruza. But Saturdays win would not have been possible without a quick glance at the scoreboard that showed sister Venus, who has worked her way back onto the circuit after being diagnosed with Sjogrens syndrome four years ago, 4-1 up against Giorgi. I thought, wow, shes been through so much with her illness, with everything that shes had to do, Serena told a media conference. Gosh, if she can do it, Im perfectly healthy, Im fine. I should be able to do it, too. It just got me so motivated, really helped me push through those next two sets at a rapid rate. With another win under her belt in Melbourne, Serena is relishing the opportunity to exact some revenge. Serena was swept aside by Muguruza at the French Open last year, beaten 6-2 6-2 in the second round. I always look forward to it. I have nothing to lose. Here is my turn to show them I can do it, the 18-time grand-slam winner added. If not, if theyre the better person on that day, theyre the better person on that day again. It honestly takes a lot of pressure off of me.
Posted on: Sat, 24 Jan 2015 18:30:03 +0000