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Williams' revenge brings her to last 8 of Australian Open

Xinhua, January 26, 2015 Adjust font size:

Serena Williams reached the last eight of the Australian Open women's singles on Monday by defeating Garbine Muguruza 2-6, 6-3, 6-2.

Muguruza, the 22-year-old Spanish, beat Williams in straight sets in Roland Garros last year, which was considered as the biggest surprise in the event.

Muguruza won the break in the fifth game of the first set, she got three more games consecutively from then on and nearly crushed the top-ranked Williams's confidence.

The turning point of the match appeared in the eighth game of the second set when Muguruza put Williams' respond into the net. The 34-year-old Williams caught the break point and earned the set in a clear and ordered pattern.

After missing break points on Muguruza's serve in the opening game of the third set, Williams saved six break points and needed almost 13 minutes to hold. She then broke for a 3-2 lead and dominated the rest of the match.

"She hits the ball really, really big, really, really hard," Williams said. "Someone in the crowd was like C'mon Serena use spin' and I was like 'OK.' There's coaches everywhere out here! Thank you."

Williams will face Dominika Cibulkova in the quarterfinal.

Cibulkova lost the final here last year to the now-retired Chinese tennis star Li Na, While Williams was knocked out of the Australian Open in the fourth round 2014. Endi