* Serena and Venus Williams through to quarters
* Two Chinese through to last eight for first time
* Djokovic and Davydenko advance in men's draw
(updates after Serena win)
By Julian Linden
MELBOURNE, Jan 25 - Serena Williams is in such
devastating form that a fifth Australian Open title appears
well within her grasp at a season-opening grand slam where a
majority of her main rivals have fallen by the wayside.
She still needs to win three more matches to defend her
title but on Monday's evidence, she is clearly in the mood. Her
performance against Samantha Stosur was as ruthless as anything
she has ever displayed on the Rod Laver Arena.
Stosur was the last Australian in the women's draw and
loomed as a formidable opponent having made the semi-finals of
the French Open last year and climbed to 13th in the world
rankings.
But Williams has never been one for sentiment and she
showed the Australian no mercy, winning 6-4 6-2 in a little
over an hour.
That fourth round win ensured Williams will retain her
number one ranking regardless of what happens at Melbourne Park
after the remaining players in the top five all crashed out,
leaving an unexpected lineup of quarter-finalists, including
two from China.
The nation's sporting revolution has been slow in reaching
international tennis. More than two million Chinese play the
game for fun but only a handful take it seriously enough to
make a mark on the professional game.
At the forefront of her country's batch of leading players
is Zheng Jie, who gave the world a glimpse of the changing face
of tennis when she made the semi-finals at Wimbledon two years
ago.
The diminutive 26-year-old is already through to the
quarter-finals in Australia and looking to go further but has
been joined this time by Li Na after she defeated Denmark's
Caroline Wozniacki 6-4 6-3.
It was not an upset of major proportions as Li is ranked
17th in the world, but it was still a surprise as Wozniacki
made the final of last year's U.S. Open and was seeded fourth
at Melbourne Park.
"Yeah, this is good for us, both players in the
quarter-finals," Li said, before jokingly revealing the secret
behind their success. "Maybe I eat Chinese food."
Wozniacki is a popular figure in Australia but her loss to
Li was a victory for the tournament's marketing team who have
rebranded the championship as the Grand Slam of Asia/Pacific.
OLYMPIC TRIUMPH
Li's next opponent is Venus Williams, who booked her place
in the quarter-finals with a 3-6 6-2 6-1 win over Italian
Francesca Schiavone.
As a former world number one and multiple grand slam
winner, Williams is entitled to start as favourite although Li
can draw confidence from her only previous encounter with the
American.
That was at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, also in the
quarter-finals, with Li emerging triumphant 7-5 7-5.
"It was good experience for me, for my tennis. But I just
want to forget (that), because I will play her again."
Williams has never won the Australian Open and time may be
running out for her. At 29, she is the oldest woman left in the
women's draw and even if she beats Li she could face Serena in
the semi-finals.
She was well below her best against Schiavone, dropping the
opening set then losing her first service game in the second
set without winning a point.
But winning a set against the Williams sister is one thing,
winning the match is another, and once Venus found her rhythm
the contest was over.
"I just realised I was rushing a little too much and I just
really needed to take my time," Venus explained.
"It was just the first game. There was a long way to go
after the first game still, and I knew that. Everyone knows
that."
There have been few surprises in the men's event this week
and the pattern continued on Monday as Serbia's Novak Djokovic
and Russia's Nikola Davydenko both won.
Djokovic, the 2008 champion, sealed his place in the
quarter-finals with a 6-1 6-2 7-5 win over Poland's Lukasz, the
only unseeded player to make the fourth round of the men's
draw.
"If he's seeded or unseeded, if he comes to the second week
of play, he must be a quality player," Djokovic said.
"It's a grand slam, you know. To reach last 16, last 8,
it's not a piece of cake."
Davydenko had to work a lot harder before wearing down
Spain's Fernando Verdasco tense 6-2 7-5 4-6 6-7 6-3.
The Russian had won his three previous matches in straight
sets but was grateful for the workout with Roger Federer or
Lleyton Hewitt awaiting him in the next round.
(Editing by John O'Brien; To query or comment on this story
email sportsfeedback@thomsonreuters.com)