Venus WilliamsRolling back the years, the 34-year-old American joined sister Serena in the quarters of a slam for the first time since Wimbledon 2010. It wasn’t quite time for dad Richard to bring back his little white board welcoming fans to the “Williams Show”, but it was cause for celebration nonetheless considering Venus’s comeback from injuries and the energy-sapping Sjogren's Syndrome. Entering her 15th Australian Open
campaign, Williams had sounded a warning shot by winning the lead-up event in Auckland, but there is a perpetual question at this stage in her career whether her health will hold up. She sprung the upset on sixth seed Agnieszka Radwanska, before bowing in a changing of the guard to Madison Keys in the last eight.
Serena Williams
A perfect half-dozen Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cups in her grasp, the Williams juggernaut rolled on with Serena surpassing Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova for her 19th Grand Slam singles crown. Despite being well below optimum health in the final, she continued her absolute dominance of Maria Sharapova, having now come out on top in her past 16 stoushes with the Russian, dropping just one set in her past 12 showdowns. Despite mid-tournament glitches, dropping sets to Elina Svitolina and Garbine Muguruza, the world No.1 continued her trend of having gone on to win the title at Melbourne Park every time after passing the quarterfinals. Further endearing herself to the crowd, she donated $200 for every ace she served this tournament to motor-neurone disease research.
A perfect half-dozen Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cups in her grasp, the Williams juggernaut rolled on with Serena surpassing Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova for her 19th Grand Slam singles crown. Despite being well below optimum health in the final, she continued her absolute dominance of Maria Sharapova, having now come out on top in her past 16 stoushes with the Russian, dropping just one set in her past 12 showdowns. Despite mid-tournament glitches, dropping sets to Elina Svitolina and Garbine Muguruza, the world No.1 continued her trend of having gone on to win the title at Melbourne Park every time after passing the quarterfinals. Further endearing herself to the crowd, she donated $200 for every ace she served this tournament to motor-neurone disease research.
Ekaterina MakarovaUnlike the prolific Russian top-tenners before her to have played second fiddle to one M. Sharapova, lefty Makarova shuns the spotlight and has never really figured in discussions of potential slam contenders come the fortnight’s end. That may be about to change after the Muscovite reached her second-straight Grand Slam semifinal, the third time she has made the quarters or better at Melbourne Park. She fell somewhat meekly to her countrywoman Sharapova, but her straight-sets wallopings of third seed Simona Halep and rising Czech Katerina Pliskova, in particular, showed what this now well-entrenched top-liner is capable of producing.
WHO EMERGED?
Madison KeysThe standout of the 2015 women’s event, the bubbly down-to-earth American is a breath of fresh air. That unbridled power has always hinted at her potential, but until former American great Lindsay Davenport came on board in the off-season, it was never really harnessed. Until now. The 19-year-old swung from the hip to down two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova and backed it up with an upset of seven-time major winner Venus Williams before falling short against Serena in her first slam semifinal. It was enough for the world No.1 to deem her a major champion in waiting.
Garbine MuguruzaThe vivacious Venezuelan-born Spaniard Muguruza looked like becoming just the fifth player to upend Serena Williams twice in a major when she took the first set of their fourth-round clash. Serena’s not a fan of those kind of statistics and ultimately found her serve and her confidence, but it was enough to suggest the 21-year-old Muguruza is on track to become a regular fixture in the second week of majors.
WHO DISAPPOINTED?
Ana Ivanovic‘Toegate’ goes some way to explaining the Serb’s first-round disaster, but before cries of “don’t sink the boot in”, so to speak, consider this. For the first time in years, the world No.5 was again a serious slam contender. She was impressive in reaching the Brisbane final having bagged four trophies last season, and was cruising when up a set against Czech qualifier Lucie Hradecka in her opening assignment. From there though, those flaky shaky days of old returned, with it later emerging she was sporting a fractured toe.
Coco VandewegheSure, her go-for-broke groundstrokes paid dividends in her upset of Aussie slam winner Sam Stosur at Rod Laver Arena, but it was the American’s failure to back up the win in the following match against unheralded compatriot Madison Brengle which earns Coco her place on the list. She salvaged just five games, broke only once from eight attempts, and misfired with nearly four times the number of unforced errors.
Simona HalepThe typically consistent and dogged Romanian was completely off in her quarterfinal flunk against Makarova, smacking an error on average every couple of minutes. After reaching the Roland Garros decider last year and finishing the year at No.3, big things were expected of Halep, but after a 6-0 second set to end her campaign, the 23-year-old made the surprising admission she no long believed after losing her concentration.
The GermansBarring Julia Goerges reaching the fourth round at a major for the first time in two years, it was a tournament to forget for her seeded Fed Cup teammates. It was a trifecta of first-round upsets, with ninth seed Angelique Kerber having a shocker, falling to Romanian Irina-Camelia Begu; 13th seed and 2011 quarterfinalist Andrea Petkovic falling at the first hurdle to American Madison Brengle; and 28th seed Sabine Lisicki being humbled by Frenchwoman Kristina Mladenovic