Monday 26 January 2015 18:30, UK
Top-ranked Serena Williams staged a barnstorming comeback against Spain's Garbine Muguruza to reach the Australian Open quarter-finals on Monday.
The five-time Melbourne winner was pushed all the way by world No 24 Muguruza, who conceded only four games to her in a second-round upset last year at the French Open.
The Venezuelan-born player matched Williams in the heavy-hitting rallies in what turned into a three-set dogfight.
But the world No 1 battled back from a set down in a tense centre court match to make the last eight and stay on track for a 19th Grand Slam title and her sixth at Melbourne.
"I didn't start out so well and she did everything she needed to do in the first set," said Williams, who can lose her top ranking if she exits and Maria Sharapova wins the tournament.
"I just decided to do my best, stay focused and relax.
"She hits the ball really, really big, really, really hard. Someone in the crowd was like 'C'mon Serena, use spin' and I was like 'OK.' There's coaches everywhere out here! Thank you."
Williams was seen coughing throughout the match and confessed that "I've been a little sick in the last couple of days".
She will next face last year's finalist Dominika Cibulkova, the 11th seeded Slovak who ended the comeback from injury of two-time former champion Victoria Azarenka in three tight sets 6-2 3-6 6-3.
Her sister Venus joined them in the last eight after overcoming gritty Polish sixth seed Agnieszka Radwanska in the night match 6-3 2-6 6-1. Victory helped the evergreen 34-year-old into the second week of a major for the first time since Wimbledon 2011.
The diminutive Cibulkova pounded 44 winners and broke former world No 1 Azarenka's serve seven times to reach a Grand Slam quarter-final for the sixth time.
Cibulkova, who lost in the 2014 decider to Li Na, went into her match as an underdog against Azarenka, who had beaten her seven times in their nine previous meetings.
But she said her self belief blossomed as she stepped back onto Rod Laver Arena, the scene of her best Grand Slam performance.
"I just walked on the court and all the memories came to my mind and I was just thinking 'I'm a great player, I can do it, I just have to believe in myself'," she said after the fiercly contested match.
Madison Keys advanced to her first major quarter-final with a 6-2 6-4 victory over compatriot and namesake Madison Brengle in the all-American clash.
Unseeded world No 35 Keys, coached by former Grand Slam champion Lindsay Davenport, defeated Brengle 6-2 6-4 to set up a meeting with compatriot Venus Williams.
The 19-year-old Keys, who destroyed two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova in the third round, was equally as destructive against the 24-year-old, hammering 38 winners in the victory.
