If Serena Williams’s rivals were not already fiercely aware of the threat she poses at this year’s Wimbledon, they will now after she greeted a destruction of Daniela Hantuchova with a pledge to pick up her game.
“I feel like I definitely need to step it up, play better, really start playing some great tennis, or go home,” the second-seeded American told reporters after the 6-3 6-1 fourth-round victory. “And I don’t want to go home, so I feel like, you know, I’m just getting more serious.”
Bad news for Belarussian eighth seed Victoria Azarenka, who will face Serena in the quarter-finals after ousting Russian 10th seed Nadia Petrova on Monday.
If it had not been for the searing heat on Court Two, the two-times Wimbledon champion would barely have broken sweat against Hantuchova.
In just 56 minutes Serena, who is yet to drop a set at the All England Club this year, effortlessly outpowered Hantuchova who struggled to find any rhythm or any room for her shots.
Hantuchova, a 2002 Wimbledon quarter-finalist, showed fleeting glimpses of quality with a tidy backhand but crumbled in her service games as Serena, camped inside the baseline, returned ferociously. Unperturbed by the threat of Hantuchova, Serena’s father Richard Williams spent the second set contentedly tapping away on his phone, having already watched daughter Venus win against Serb Ana Invanovic earlier on Monday.
Serena, chasing her 11th grand slam title, has a 2-1 record over Azarenka with the Belarussian winning their last encounter in this year’s Miami final.
“She’s (Azarenka) obviously a good player and she’s really young. She has nothing to lose,” reigning Australian Open champion Williams added.
“This is Wimbledon. I feel the same way. It will be a really good match.”
