Yarra Valley Classic: Serena Williams Sails Into Quarterfinals

Yarra Valley Classic Serena Williams: After several injuries Tennis ace Serena Williams smashed her way to success.  

Williams reached the quarter-finals of the Yarra Valley Classic in Melbourne. She won a straight-set match against Tsvetana Pironkova on Wednesday. The American sportstar, Williams defeated the Bulgarian with a 6-1, 6-4 victory in a match that lasted for 74 minutes. 

An unstoppable backhand return from @serenawilliams 🚀#YarraValleyWTA pic.twitter.com/8e9RBClZp8

— wta (@WTA) February 3, 2021

"So far, so good. It's special to play here with what's going on in the world," said Williams. Yarra Valley Classic Serena Williams

The 39-year-old is preparing for next week's Australian Open, leading into yet another Grand Slam.

The mother of one had an impressive run at the US Open last year when she surpassed Chris Evert’s previous record for most singles wins in the history of the tournament, male or female. She won her 102nd US Open career match to break a tie with Evert for the most wins in the professional era.

Williams, a 23-time Grand Slam winner, is now aiming for Margaret Court’s record-equalling 24th Grand Slam title at the Australian Open.

Seven-time Australian Open champion, Williams and Pironkova fought each other during last year’s US Open quarter-finals. The latter had won that game. Williams then had to withdraw from the French Open because of an Achilles injury. Yarra Valley Classic Serena Williams

She will next face Czech Karolina Pliskova or Danielle Collins for a semi-final spot. Williams, who won her last major title at the 2017 Australian Open, ranked second in Forbes 2020 list of highest-paid female athletes. 

In August, top-seeded Serena Williams was defeated by the world No. 116 Shelby Rogers as she crashed out of the Top Seed Open in Lexington. Williams was expected to advance to the semi-finals after her brilliant show in the initial games of the tournament. This was the first time Williams recorded a loss to an opponent outside of the WTA top 100 in eight years.

Feature Image Credit: Yahoo