Twenty-three times Grand Slam champion Serena Williams entered the quarter-final round of the ongoing Australian Open after surpassing world number one Simona Halep in their pre-quarters clash of the women's singles event here at the Rod Laver Arena on Monday.
The 37-year-old handled the pressure of a highly-anticipated clash with ease and breezed past her Romanian opponent 6-1, 4-6, 6-4 in the match that lasted one hour and 47 minutes.
The match started in a pretty one-sided way as the American player registered the opening set to her name within 20 minutes. She dropped just one game on her way to clinch the set 6-1.
The Romanian player fought back in the second set after surrendering her serve four times in the first game. At a point when Halep was trailing 1-2, she sealed her first break point of the match soon and continued with her impressive run to win the set.
The deciding set saw some tense moments when Serena gave away three break points in the crucial sixth game. The former world number one, however, returned beautifully by earning a break point in the seventh game. Serena eventually took the game 6-4 to seal the match.
Next, Serena will be up against number seven seed Karolina Pliskova to make it into the semi-final of the competition.