Williams, the world No. 1 women's player, routed 32nd-seeded Carla Suarez Navarro 6-0, 6-3 in getting to the fourth round. She has lost a total of nine games in her first three matches in Melbourne. Williams won 57 percent of the points on Suarez Navarro's serve and 66 percent on her own.
Her fourth-round opponent will be 13th-seeded Australian Samantha Stosur, who eliminated Alberta Brianti 6-4, 6-1.
Fourth-seeded Caroline Wozniacki converted all five of her break-point situations against Shahar Peer in a 6-4, 6-0 victory. She'll next face No. 16 Na Li, whose 7-5, 3-6, 6-2 victory over 22nd-seeded Daniela Hantuchova was the only match of the day to go more than two sets.
Venus Williams, the No. 6 seed who could meet her sister Serena in the semifinals, was pushed to a second-set tie-breaker before finishing off Casey Dellacqua 6-1, 7-6 (7-4). The second set last 69 minutes as Williams fought through 22 unforced errors in the set.
No. 17-seeded Francesca Schiavone was much more efficient in a 6-2, 6-2 upset of 10th-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska. She committed just 13 errors in winning a fourth-round shot at Venus Williams.
Also Saturday, seventh-seeded Victoria Azarenka blitzed Tathiana Garbin 6-0, 6-2 and No. 9 Vera Zvonareva got by Gisela Dulko 6-1, 7-5, setting up a Top 10 pairing for the fourth round.
Copyright 2010 by United Press International.
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