For Halep, it will be back-to-back matches against the Williams sisters. In the third round, she easily dispatched Venus Williams, 6-2,6-3.
MELBOURNE, Australia — Top-ranked Simona Halep expressed relief and satisfaction after her third-round victory over Venus Williams on Saturday night at the Australian Open. She also remained galvanized for the task ahead — a fourth-round match on Monday against Venus’s sister, Serena.
“It’s always a big challenge to play against the Williams sisters,” Halep said in her on-court interview after her 6-2,6-3 victory over Venus. “So I was super-motivated today.” As she will have to be on Monday.
“Definitely is the toughest draw I’ve ever had,” Halep said.
Though Halep arrived at Melbourne without a victory since August, she has impressed in her first three matches here. “I think she played pretty flawless today,” was the assessment from Venus Williams after the match.
Serena Williams, meanwhile, easily won her third-round match — 6-2,6-1 over Dayana Yastremska — and then expressed eagerness for the chance to test herself against the No. 1-ranked Halep.
“I honestly would love to face the world No. 1,” said Williams, adding that she hasn’t faced a No. 1 since her return from maternity leave last year. Actually, Williams has actually not faced a No. 1 player in nearly six years — largely because you can’t be across the net from the No. 1 when you are the No. 1.
Williams’s last match against a top-ranked player was against Victoria Azarenka in February 2013 in the Doha final. Though Williams lost that match, she secured the No. 1 ranking by reaching the semifinals of that tournament and she then held onto it for 186 weeks, through the 2016 U. S. Open, when she ceded it to Angelique Kerber.
Despite her two runs to Grand Slam finals last year, Williams has not beaten many high-profile opponents since her return.
