Serena advance at the Australian Open
Published:Monday | January 26, 2009 | 5:30 PM
American Serena Williams reached the last eight at the Australian Open today when 19-year-old opponent Victoria Azarenka was forced to retired because of illness.
The Belarusian, who won the opening set, looked in great form early on but could barely stay upright when serving at 6-3, 2-4, and left the court in tears.
Williams, seeking a 10th Grand Slam singles, title, next plays 2004 US Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia, who advanced when Zheng Jie of China retired at 4-1 in the first set.
Fourth seed Elena Dementieva of Russia beat Slovakia’s Dominika Cibulkova 6-2, 6-2 and faces Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain next.
In the men’s draw, Britain’s Andy Murray saw his hopes of winning a first Grand Slam title at the Australian Open end with a five-set defeat by Fernando Verdasco.
The Spaniard ranked 15th in the world, prevailed 2-6, 6-1, 1-6, 6-3, 6-4 and will meet fifth-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France, who beat Number 9 James Blake 6-4, 6-4, 7-6.
Top-ranked Rafael Nadal defeated 2007 runner-up Fernando Gonzales 6-3, 6-2, 6-4, while Gilles Simon of France advanced after his countryman Gael Monfils retired with the scores on 6-4, 2-6, 6-1.