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Serena to help Venus in Sharapova showdown

Tennis
MELBOURNE - Serena Williams has beaten Maria Sharapova in all of their last nine meetings and plans to pass on key tips to big sister Venus ahead of her Australian Open tennis clash with the Russian today.

MELBOURNE – Serena Williams has beaten Maria Sharapova in all of their last nine meetings and plans to pass on key tips to big sister Venus ahead of her Australian Open tennis clash with the Russian today. Report by Sapa/Afp

Venus is still on the comeback trail from injury and illness and will need all the assistance she can get in her third round match with the world No 2. Serena said yesterday she was ready to help.

“It will be a big match. I think Venus obviously has nothing to lose, and she will play great tennis. She will do her best,” she said of her sister, who hasn’t won a Grand Slam since Wimbledon in 2008.

No one is better placed to give advice than Serena on how to tackle the second seed, with nine straight wins against her since 2005 and 10 overall in their 12 career meetings.

Asked if she would be giving Venus tips, she replied: “Yeah, obviously I will, but, you know, at the end of the day, she will be fine.

“She’s been playing tennis a really long time and she’s a fabulous player. She will do good.”

Venus has faced Sharapova seven times stretching back to 2004, and has only won three of the encounters – the last at Stanford in 2009.

She admits she has her work cut out.

“I’m not really expecting anything too different. Just a high intensity level,” she said of the match.

“I don’t think I’m really going into it with a different mentality except really focusing on what I’m doing with the ball. “That’s pretty much it,” she added.

Sharapova, the 2008 Australian champion, said there were no secrets heading into the clash.

“We’ve played against each other many times,” she said.

“Despite the fact that she might not be seeded high or didn’t play for a little bit, she’s still a very experienced player and a tremendous athlete.

“Going out there, there won’t be too many secrets. I hope for it to be a great match.”

Meanwhile, Andy Murray kept his cool in a Melbourne scorcher to reach the third round of the Australian Open with a businesslike 6-2, 6-2, 6-4 victory over Joao Sousa on Hisense Arena yesterday.

The British third seed looked intent on keeping his time in the heat and humidity to the absolute minimum, wrapping up victory in just 101 minutes when his Portuguese opponent went long with a return.

Two breaks in the first set, a couple in the second and one more in the third proved enough to set up a meeting with Lithuanian Ricardas Berankis, who earlier stunned German 25th seed Florian Mayer 6-2, 6-3, 6-1.

Murray, who is chasing a second successive grand slam title after his breakthrough triumph at the US Open, has reached the semi-finals at Melbourne Park for the last three years.