In Tuesday's Australian Open quarterfinals, Maria Sharapova came practically nowhere near troubling world number one Serena Williams in their 21st career meeting and the American recorded her 19th straight win over the Russian, extending the streak that is more than a decade old.
Even though the fifth-seeded Maria opened the match by breaking Serena's serve and had break points at 4-4, the overall impression was that the defending champion comfortably progressed to the tournament's semifinals. After a tighter first set, the second set was all Serena's, except for Maria's late mini revival when she had break points to approach Serena to 2-5, after being down 0-5.