More than 11 years have passed since Maria Sharapova last beat Serena Williams, a run of 17 straight defeats that would have lesser players throwing in towel every time the two names come together.
But Sharapova’s self-confidence remains strong and so she goes into their Australian Open quarter-final tomorrow believing, even if few others do, that this could be her time.
“It's not like I think about what I can do worse,” she said of being on the wrong side of such a one-sided record.
“You're always trying to improve. I got myself into the quarter-final of a grand slam.
“There is no reason I shouldn't be looking to improve and to getting my game in a better position than any other previous round. It's only going to be tougher, especially against Serena.”
Sharapova hit a career-best 21 aces in beating Swiss teenager Belinda Bencic 7-5, 7-5 to reach the last eight but knows she’ll need to do something similar to stand a chance.
Her biggest problem is that Williams, who is chasing grand slam title No 22, always seems to reserve her best for when the Russian is across the other side of the net.
Having struggled with a knee injury coming into the event, the American has dropped just 17 games in four matches and only eight since a tight opening-round.
Yesterday, Williams demolished another Russian, Margarita Gasparyan, 6-2, 6-1 and despite her record against Sharapova, she knows better than to allow any complacency into her game.
“Every match is new,” she said. “She always brings in something new and something special. She's very consistent as well. She’s one player that's always consistently winning and training and working hard and winning matches.”
But Williams also knows that her game matches up perfectly with Sharapova.
I'm just really looking at me right now, and I feel like if I can just continue to play well, then it could be good,” she said.
In the past, Sharapova has often been forced into going for too much and missing, feeling the pressure to play too perfectly, leading to inevitable mistakes.
Williams came within two wins of the calendar-year grand slam last year and her coach Patrick Mouratoglou has said he believes winning all four is a real possibility in 2016.
That adds a pressure of its own but Williams said she would be relaxed when she steps onto court.
“In this situation, I don't have anything to lose because every tournament for me is just a bonus at this point in my career,” the 34-year-old said.
“I just feel like I'm really confident in my game right now, not against her or against any other opponent.”
Tomorrow’s other quarter-final will be between fourth seed Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland and 10th seed Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain.
Radwanska won the last five games to beat a cramp-affected Anna-Lena Friedsam of Germany 6-7, 6-1, 7-5 while Suarez Navarro ended Australian interest with a 0-6, 6-3, 6-2 victory over Daria Gavrilova.
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