American tennis great Serena Williams is through to the semi-finals at the Australian Open again, and once again she's beaten Maria Sharapova in Melbourne.
Maria Sharapova walks on court during a break in her match against Serena Williams Photo: AFP
Williams again triumphed in a repeat of last year's women's final on Rod Laver Arena - in fact, Sharapova has now lost her last 18 matches against the 34-year-old.
The world No.1 was pushed hard in the first set but then Williams easily overcame her old Russian rival in the second to win their quarter-final 6-4 6-1.
Sharapova got the early break in the opening set, but the defending champion broke back and held serve at 4-4 despite the Russian having two break point chances.
The six-time Melbourne champion then blew three set points on Sharapova's serve in the decisive 10th game, before Williams prevailed with her fourth attempt.
The second set was much easier as Sharapova crumbled - the 2008 champion's serve was broken straight away, and again to trail 0-5 before she finally held. But then Williams, in a truly dominant display, served it out.
Williams, who twice had treatment during breaks in the rematch of last year's final, has reached the last four at Melbourne Park on six previous occasions and gone on to win the title every time.
"Yeah it was super intense, she's an incredibly intense, focused player who was No.1 and has won so many grand slams for a reason so when you're playing someone like that, that's so great, you have to come out with a lot of fire and intensity," Williams said.
She now plays Poland's Agnieszka Radwanska in the semis, after the fourth seed advanced 6-1 6-3 over 10th seed Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain.
It's the second semi-final Radwanska's made at Melbourne Park, and she said it wasn't as easy as the scoreline would suggest.
"I knew it would be a tough one," Radwanska said.
"She is very solid, like most Spanish players and I knew everything would come back to my side. I tried to be aggressive and focus on my serve and I think I did a good job."
Williams, who is looking for her 22nd major singles title, has an 8-0 head-to-head record against Radwanska.
- RNZ/Reuters
