MELBOURNE: World number one and defending champion Serena Williams smacked down Margarita Gasparyan to sweep into an Australian Open quarter-final against Maria Sharapova on Sunday.
The American top seed and 21-time Grand Slam winner wasted little energy in swatting aside the unseeded Russian 6-2, 6-1 on Rod Laver Arena to set up the mouth-watering clash with her long-time rival.
