MELBOURNE, Australia -- With characteristic bravado, Serena
Williams and Martina Hingis say they're ready for another showdown.
Williams belted winners from all over the court -- even 12 feet
behind the baseline -- for an easy victory Monday and a berth in the
Australian Open quarterfinals against the top-seeded Hingis.
|  | | Serena Willams is yet to drop a set in this year's Australian Open. |
"I've prepared for it already," Williams said. "My
preparation was done before I got off the airplane."
Said Hingis: "I'm playing well, so I have the chance to beat
anybody out there."
Williams, seeded sixth, advanced by overpowering Daja Bedanova
6-2, 6-2. Hingis earlier beat Rita Grande 6-0, 6-3.
Neither player has dropped a set. Hingis, seeking her sixth
Grand Slam title but first since the 1999 Australian Open, has lost
just 12 games in four matches. Williams, the 1999 U.S. Open
champion, has lost 19 games.
Hingis took a 5-4 lead in their rivalry by beating Williams en
route to the Sydney title earlier this month. Williams then blamed
rustiness following a three-month layoff, but she's not using that
excuse now.
"I play enough. I win enough," she said. "Obviously I'd like
to win more, but a lot of people would kill to do what I've done."
Venus Williams overcame a midmatch
flurry of wild hitting on Monday to advance to the Australian Open
quarterfinals with a 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 victory over Amelie Mauresmo.
Wimbledon, U.S. Open and Olympic champion Venus Williams
received plenty of help from 1999 Australian runner-up Mauresmo,
who committed 44 unforced errors to 43 by Venus in the slugfest.
|  | | Martina Hingis is vying for her fifth consecutive trip to the Australian Open final. |
But she finished the 1-hour, 41-minute match in spectacular
fashion with a forehand winner down Mauresmo's forehand sideline
and two aces.
"I was really having a tough time on my serve today," Venus
said. "At the end, I really just went for the gold and got
lucky."
Venus, the No. 3 seed, charged the net against Mauresmo's first
serve of the match and took the point with two quick volleys. She
stayed in command long enough to break serve in the second set's
third game.
Then she lost serve in a game with six errors, including two
double faults, and was broken again to give Mauresmo a 4-2 lead
thanks to four more errors, including her seventh of 10 double
faults for the match.
Venus broke in the final set's second game, was broken back in
the seventh and gained her decisive break for 5-3.
But she still had to save a break point after a double fault and
a backhand down the line by Mauresmo, and came up with her last
three big shots.
Next up for Venus is No. 10 Amanda Coetzer, a 6-1, 6-4 winner
over Argentina's Paola Suarez.
"I've been through a lot of ups and downs in my career," Venus
said. "I know how to deal with certain situations. Luckily enough
I was able to pull through."
In the second set, Venus said her sister said, "'Come on Venus,
do your best.' That really helped out a lot."
A doubles match involving Anna Kournikova on Court 1 was briefly
interrupted when a 15-year-old boy threw a smoking orange flare on
the court. Security grabbed him.
"I was hitting the ball and suddenly something dropped in front
of me," Kournikova said. "I just walked away."
Kournikova had a doubles match interrupted by a streaker at
Wimbledon last year.
Also on the women's side, No. 4 Monica Seles will play No. 12
Jennifer Capriati, and the eighth-seeded Kournikova will face No. 2
Lindsay Davenport, the defending champion.
Venus and Davenport, the No. 2 seed,
were mentioned when Hingis was discussing possible obstacles to her
first major tournament title in two years.
"There is Serena, too," Hingis said of the sister who is
seeded sixth and beat her in the 1999 U.S. Open final.
Serena has lost only 19 games in four matches here so far, but
Hingis has lost only 12.
Serena Williams played her most polished match of the tournament
against Bedanova, coming to the net often and slamming winners from
both sides. Sprinting across the court on one point, she retreated
into the corner 12 feet behind the baseline and belted a running,
lunging forehand winner.
Bedanova said she wanted to put in more first serves, or come up
with harder second serves that Serena couldn't pound away.
"I couldn't get into my game. She didn't give me an
opportunity," Bedanova said.
Williams smacked 29 winners and eight aces. In the players' box,
her family and friends -- already looking ahead to the next match --
sat reading a transcript of the latest Hingis news conference.
Hingis also has an excellent record in the Australian Open,
where she has won three of her five Grand Slam tournament titles.
She lost here to Davenport in last year's final, however, and has
not won a Slam since the Australian in 1999.
Hingis was seeking perfection in her match, and threw her racket
when Grande started doing better in the second set.
"She was upset because she missed two balls," Grande said.
"I kept lobbing her and she kept hitting overheads," Hingis
said. "I was like, 'OK, one more and I kill myself.'"
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ALSO SEE
Australian Open results
Norman ousted in fourth round of Aussie Open
Smoking flare disrupts Kournikova doubles match
Davenport, Kournikova to meet in quarterfinals
No. 3 Sampras bounced out of Australia by Martin
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Venus Williams defeats Amelie Mauresmo.
avi: 1076 k
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