Serena Williams beats Anastasia Potapova 7-6(5) 6-2 in the 3rd round in Melbourne on Friday in 1 hour and 37 minutes.

Melbourne
Williams's Record

Draw and next match H2H: Serena Williams vs. Aryna Sabalenka – stats

Williams will compete against Sabalenka in the 4th round.

There is no head to head record between Serena Williams and Aryna Sabalenka since this will be the first time that they will square off in the main tour.

After the match against Potapova, Serena admitted that she is impressed with Aryna’s power to comment:

“She hits very hard. She has a big, big power game. She’s a big girl. Strong like myself. So I think it will be a really good match – with no crowd.”

Sabalenka had a similar comment about Serena to say:

“The first time [I saw Serena], I think I was around 13 years old. I think I said, ‘I want to hit even stronger than her (laughing).

I don’t know if it was, was it smart or not, but that point, I was thinking like, ‘Wow, she’s really powerful. I want to be like powerful, too, and I want to dominate on the tour the same like she do.’”

Williams won this tournament 7 times in 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2015 and 2017. Here you can see her history at this event.

Highlights Serena Williams vs. Anastasia Potapova Australian Open – Melbourne

Williams’s Interview

Stats: aces, double faults, breaks, winners

Williams
Potapova
7-65 6-2
1h:37
78
78
Total points
63
63
36
36
Winners
14
14
46%
46%
Ratio Winners
22%
22%
31
31
Unforced
28
28
53%
53%
Ratio Unforced
47%
47%
3/6
3/6
Net Approaches
2/3
2/3
50%
50%
Perc
67%
67%
-- Serve --
9
9
Aces
2
2
4
4
Double Faults
8
8
63%
63%
1st in
45%
45%
77%
77%
1st won
47%
47%
36/47
36/47
1st won
14/30
14/30
32%
32%
2nd won
53%
53%
9/28
9/28
2nd won
19/36
19/36
192
192
Fastest serve
178
178
173
173
AVG 1st Serve
166
166
139
139
AVG 2nd Serve
140
140
-- Break Points --
5/8
5/8
Total
3/12
3/12
63%
63%
Won
25%
25%
See Full Stats

At the end of the match, Williams scored 78

points vs. Potapova’s 63.

Williams

Serena served extremely well to win 77% of the points (36/47) behind her first serve. Anyhow she won only 32% points (9/28) on her second serve. Williams was pretty focused in converting 63% of the break points that she conquered (5/8).

Potapova

On the other side, Anastasia had some problems converting her break points (only 25% – 3/12). That was one of the key issues for her defeat.

After this match, the head to head between Williams and Potapova is 2-0 for Serena. Serena added to her prize money $ 105,000 after winning this match. She has won already $ 320,000 after this win. If she wins the next match, Serena will add $ 205,000 to her earnings to get in total $ 525,000 in total.

Live score progression and stats

Williams won the set after she broke Potapova 3 times in the 4th

(2-2), in the 7th (3-4) and in the 9th (4-5) game. Potapova tried to stage a comeback breaking in the 6th (2-4) and in the 8th (3-5) game. However, Williams didn’t make any concession anymore to eventually clinch the set at the following breaker at 5.

Tiebreak

Williams won 5 minibreaks in the 1st (1-0), 5th (2-3), 9th (4-5), 11th (6-5) and 12th (7-5) point. On the other side, Anastasia won 3 minibreaks in the 2nd (1-1), 3rd (2-1) and 6th (4-2) point.

This was the tiebreak sequence: 1-0, 1-1, 1-2, 1-3, 2-3, 2-4, 3-4, 3-5, 4-5, 6-5, 7-5

Serena converted 66% of her break points (2/3). She had 3 break points opportunities in the 5th (2-2 30-40), the 7th (2-4 15-40) and the 9th game (3-5 40-A). Serena saved 2 set points when she was 3-5 and 4-5 down. Moreover, on the other side, Anastasia converted 30% of her break points (3/10). She had her opportunities in the 2nd (1-0 40-A and 40-A), the 6th (3-2 0-40, 15-40, 30-40, 40-A, 40-A and 40-A) and the 8th game (4-3 15-40 and 30-40).

They played 93 points. Serena was the winner of the set after clinching 5 more points than Potapova (49-44). Williams dropped 20 points on serve (29-20). In addition, on the other side, Anastasia conceded 20 points on serve (24-20).

Sabalenka was quite dominant at the beginning of the set to break Williams in the 1st game (1-0). Anyhow, Serena managed to stage a great comeback to break Anastasia 3 times in the 2nd (1-1), in the 4th (3-1) gamein the 8th game before winning the set (6-2) after breaking his opponent in the last game.

It is worth noting that a key moment of this set was when Williams won 4 consecutive games in the 2nd set so as to change the game count from 0-1 to 4-1.

Serena converted 60% of her break points (3/5). She had 5 break points opportunities in the 2nd (0-1 0-40 and 15-40), the 3rd (2-1 30-40) and the 8th game (5-2 15-40 and 30-40). On the other side, Anastasia was clinical in converting the only break point that she conquered in the 1st game (0-0 30-40).

They contested 43 points. Serena was the one to win the set after conquering 9 points more than Anastasia (26-17). Serena conceded 8 points on serve (14-8). On the losing side, Potapova conceded 12 points on serve (9-12).

Tennis Scores at the Australian Open

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