Venus books quarterfinal berth

The 13th-seeded Venus had some struggles against the German qualifier but clinched the crucial points to advance to a last eight clash with Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. Serena, who has won 22 grand slam titles to her sister’s seven, is on the other side of the draw and faces Barbora Strycova in their fourth round clash on Monday and has looked the most comfortable of the players left in the tournament. As such, a potential ninth showdown in a grand slam final, and second at Melbourne Park, between the American sisters could potentially be on the cards, though Venus sidestepped the question after her victory over Barthel.