Li, Pennetta into quarterfinals, Ivanovic upsets Serena at Australian Open
Melbourne: Former world number one Ana Ivanovic pulled off a massive upset by beating top seed Serena Williams on Sunday to power into the Australian Open quarter-finals.
The Serb came from a set down to win 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, ending Williams' bid to match Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova with 18 Grand Slam titles.
Williams, who was gunning for a sixth Australian crown, did not appear to be moving freely with unconfirmed reports that she was carrying an injury.
She pulled out of the doubles on Friday, although that was blamed on an injury to sister Venus.
It was a major scalp for Ivanovic, 26, and set up a last-eight clash against either Canadian teenager Eugenie Bouchard or local hope Casey Dellacqua.
"It's amazing, I just wanted to play the best I could," said Ivanovic. "I'm so thrilled that I played so well. I was very consistent and I'm happy about that."
Since winning at Roland Garros in 2008, Ivanovic, ranked 14, has only made a Grand Slam quarter-final once before, at the 2012 US Open.
But under new coach Nemanja Kontic, the Serb has been thriving and came into Melbourne on the back of winning her 12th career title in Auckland.
She ground down Williams with her sizzling groundstrokes for her first win against the American in five encounters.
Despite the shock loss, Williams set a new record by appearing in her 70th match at the Australian Open, surpassing the previous record held by Lindsay Davenport.
Williams, 32, started with two double faults, helping Ivanovic to three break point chances, but the world number one saved them all and regrouped to win the game.
The serve of Ivanovic lacked the power of her opponent but she mixed it up enough to hold.
Williams blasted through her next service game and Ivanovic who has family in Melbourne and is popular with Australian fans, earning her the nickname "Aussie Ana", rallied from two points down in the next to hold.
The Serb was moving well and a cross-court forehand gave her a break point on the next Williams serve and she grabbed the chance, with the American sending a backhand into the net.
But her advantage didn't last long with a poor service game allowing Williams to level.
The cool Williams held serve to be 4-3 in front, yelling her first "C'mon!" as she pumped herself up.
Ivanovic took it to 4-4 and Williams' lightning fast serves saw her hold before she turned up the heat and took the set on her second break point.
The second set went to serve until the fifth game when Ivanovic worked her way to two break points. Williams saved one with a towering serve but she lost the other, failing to bury a forehand into an open court.
The Serb had another two break points in the seventh game as Williams came under increasing pressure, but she rose to the occasion, once again saving.
For the third Williams serve in a row, Ivanovic worked her way to break points and while the American again saved two, she couldn't stop a raking forehand winner on the third.
Williams was being worn down and the Serb scored a big break to go 2-0 in front in the third set and then held serve to take control.
The despondent American was broken again to go 4-1 and while she saved one match point in the eighth, Ivanovic served to love for a famous win.
Li, Pennetta into quarterfinals
Li, Pennetta into quarterfinals
Melbourne, Australia: Two-time finalist Li Na wrapped up a fourth-round win over No. 22 Ekaterina Makarova in less than an hour Sunday to set up a quarterfinal against Flavia Pennetta at the Australian Open.
The 2011 French Open champion broke Makarova's serve five times and fended off four break points on her own serve during a 59-minute, 6-2, 6-0 win to reach the quarterfinals here for the fourth time in five years.
Pennetta's late-career revival continued as she reached her first Australian Open quarterfinal with a 6-1, 4-6, 7-5 win over ninth-seeded Angelique Kerber of Germany.
The 28th-seeded Pennetta has played some of her best tennis since returning last February from a wrist injury that caused her ranking to drop as low as No. 166.
Li and Pennetta both turn 32 next month, one day apart.
"You know what, at least she is one day older than me. So I will play an older player," Li, who had back-to-back wins over the two youngest players in the tournament tin the first two rounds, joked in an on-court interview. "Not like couple rounds (before), always younger than me. Nobody talked about the age."
Pennetta reached her first Grand Slam semifinal at the U.S. Open last year and has followed that by reaching her first quarterfinal at Melbourne Park in 11 appearances.
"I'm a little old so I'm starting to enjoy (tennis) more," she said. "When you are young you want to win so much."
Pennetta broke Kerber to take a 5-3 lead in the third set but tightened up as she was serving for the match, giving the break right back. She recovered, however, to take a 6-5 lead and then broke Kerber to close out the match.
Five-time champion Serena Williams was facing former No. 1-ranked Ana Ivanovic in fourth-round match on Rod Laver Arena later Sunday.
After setting a record for most match wins at the Australian Open with her 61st this week, Williams will better another mark Sunday by playing her 70th match at Melbourne Park, topping Lindsay Davenport's former record of 69.
On the men's side, three-time defending champion Novak Djokovic was set to take on Italian Fabio Fognini for a place in the quarterfinals.
Djokovic is attempting to make his 19th consecutive appearance in the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam - the third-longest streak in the Open era after Roger Federer's 36 and Jimmy Connors' 27.
Djokovic feels great as he powers into quarters
Djokovic feels great as he powers into quarters
Melbourne: Defending champion Novak Djokovic said he was constantly improving after reaching his 19th straight Grand Slam quarter-final with an easy victory over Italian Fabio Fognini at the Australian Open on Sunday.
The Serbian second seed coasted to a 6-3, 6-0, 6-2 victory over the 15th-seeded Fognini in one hour 33 minutes on Rod Laver Arena.
Only Roger Federer (36) and Jimmy Connors (27) have more consecutive Grand Slam quarter-final appearances than Djokovic.
The Serb, who is bidding for a fifth Australian title and his seventh Grand Slam, stretched his unbeaten match run to 28 since his US Open triumph in New York last September.
He will face either Swiss eighth seed Stanislas Wawrinka or 17th-seeded Spaniard Tommy Robredo in the quarters.
In a one-sided contest, Djokovic broke Fognini's service six times from 22 break point opportunities and hit 33 winners past the at times lackadaisical Italian.
Djokovic, who has been friends with Fognini since their junior playing days in Europe, maintained his focus as the Italian played to the crowd and performed with little intensity.
"I knew that he's a flashy kind of player that if he feels good, if he's focused enough, he can be very dangerous opponent on any surface," Djokovic said.
"He's playing the best tennis of his life in last year and a half and he can challenge anybody.
"So I did not take anything really for granted. I went out there preparing for this match as well as I do for any."
Djokovic said he played a great match and didn't allow Fognini to take control of the rallies. He now leads the Italian 7-0 in their encounters.
"I've felt from the start of this tournament that I've been elevating my game. Every match is better," the Serb said.
"The general feeling on the court, all the shots, using the court position really well, being aggressive, playing my style of the game.
"That's what I've done really well today overall from the first to the last point. I haven't allowed my opponent to come back to the match.
"Mentally I was there. I was tough. I was focused. I feel great about myself at the moment."
It will be Djokovic's seventh straight quarter-final appearance at the Australian Open and extends his unbeaten run to 25 matches at Melbourne Park.
The second seed is looking to become just the second man behind Roy Emerson to win four consecutive Australian Open titles.
