MELBOURNE, Australia -- For three rounds and more than a week, Serena Williams wanted to keep all the focus on her primary objective in Australia.
She hasn't worn an engagement ring at the Australian Open, and hasn't really wanted to elaborate much on the marriage proposal from Alexis Ohanian -- which she made public late last month by posting a poem on news website Reddit.
The six-time Australian Open champion is in Melbourne aiming for an Open-era record 23rd Grand Slam title. Ohanian, co-founder of Reddit, has been at her matches.
After her toughest match at the tournament this year, a 7-5, 6-4 victory over No. 16-seeded Barbora Strycova on Monday, she was relaxed enough to reflect on her engagement. She'd just reached the Australian Open quarterfinals for the 11th time, and said she had nothing to lose after struggling with her misfiring serve -- she was broken four times, including her first two service games -- and making 46 unforced errors.
Williams, 35, was asked, again, about her engagement in a post-match news conference -- this time by an Italian journalist who wanted to clarify the reference to Rome in her poem.
"What did I say? I said I was whisked away to Rome?" she said, explaining how Ohanian took her back to where they first met to propose.
Were they introduced, or was it happenstance?
"Literally by chance. It was just -- I was sitting down, and he sat next to me," Williams said. "Yeah, that doesn't happen anymore, right?
"I live in a movie and in a fairytale in my mind, so I guess eventually it was bound to happen."
Still, she's not planning the wedding just yet. As she said to all previous questions about the engagement, she's here to win another title. With top-seeded Angelique Kerber already out, she also has the chance to regain the No. 1 ranking.
Next up, she'll face 2016 semifinalist Johanna Konta, who beat Ekaterina Makarova 6-1, 6-4 to make it fourth-round victories over the Russian in back-to-back years.
Mirjana Lucic-Baroni beat American qualifier Jennifer Brady 6-4, 6-2 and will next play U.S. Open finalist Karolina Pliskova, who had a 6-3, 6-3 win over Daria Gavrilova.
Rafael Nadal is coming back from two months off to rest his injured left wrist, and was delighted to reach the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam for the 30th time with his 6-3, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 victory over Gael Monfils. It was Nadal's first victory over a top-10 player at a Grand Slam since his French Open victory in 2014 -- the last of his 14 major titles.
He next plays third-ranked Milos Raonic, the Wimbledon finalist and highest-ranked man still in the tournament after upset losses for top-ranked Andy Murray and defending champion Novak Djokovic.
No. 15 Grigor Dimitrov closed with an ace to hold off wild-card entry Denis Istomin, who upset Djokovic in the third round, 2-6, 7-6 (2), 6-2, 6-1. The Bulgarian will next play No. 11 David Goffin.
Raonic had a 7-6 (6), 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 win over No. 13 Roberto Bautista Agut, hitting 33 aces and 75 winners. But he also had nine double-faults and 55 unforced errors, and didn't really get on a roll until after spiking his racket into the court in frustration in the third set.
Sports on 01/24/2017