Stephens advances to Australian Open quarterfinals
Sloane Stephens advanced to the quarterfinals of the Australian Open with a 6-1, 3-6, 7-5 win Monday over Bojana Jovanovski of Serbia.
The 19-year-old American is into the quarterfinals at a major for the first time.
After five breaks of serve in the third set, Stephens broke Jovanovski and then held to advance - knowing her parents and grandparents were watching on TV.
"I'm sure my mother's had like four heart attacks,'' Stephens joked after the see-saw match. "I hope my Grandpa didn't have to put my Grandma to bed, because she gets a little worried.''
Williams, who has rated Stephens a potential world No. 1, beat the 19-year-old American in straight sets two weeks ago at the Brisbane International, one of the warm-up tournaments for the Australian Open.
Stephens is looking forward to a rematch, where there won't be any major surprises.
"It will be tough, obviously ... it's quarters of a Grand Slam,'' she said. "There won't be that like first time, `Oh, my God, I'm playing Serena'. That's kind of out of the window now. So that's good. And then it will feel more of like a regular match instead of all the other like things to think about.''