32 year old Venus Williams, who has battled serious injuries over the last two seasons, was thumped by Maria Sharapova today. Sharapova booked her place in the fourth round of the Australian Open with the 6-3, 6-1 win, having previously won her matches in 6-0, 6-0 style.
In 2011 Venus was forced out of the Open with a psoas tear – a uncommon and difficult injury to treat. It was then revealed that Venus has been diagnosed with an auto-immune disease and since then she has struggled to re-find any sort of form that captured her multiple Grand Slam trophies.
‘I really wanted this victory. I was 5-1 up and made a couple more errors than I would have liked so I was very pleased to have served it out.’
Sharapova, who completed a career Grand Slam at the French Open last year, will face Kirsten Flipkins in the next round.
