Serena Williams to face Sloane Stephens in quarter-finals

Serena Williams moved a step closer to her sixth Australian Open title with a 6-2 6-0 demolition of Russia’s Maria Kirilenko on Rod Laver Arena.

Williams has lost only one match since her first-round exit at the French Open last year and there was little danger of her winning run ending in Melbourne on Monday.

The 31-year-old took just 57 minutes to oust her Russian rival and book an intriguing quarter-final showdown with fellow American Sloane Stephens.

Williams has now reached 35 Grand Slam quarter-finals and is three wins away from a 16th major title.

Speaking afterwards, she said: “I played really well. I didn’t expect to play so well. I was like ‘wow’. I saw that I had 95 per cent first serves in the first set and thought, ‘Who is this girl?’, because I don’t usually do that.”

Stephens, the 29th seed who defeated Laura Robson in the previous round, prevailed 6-1 3-6 7-5 against Bojana Jovanovski of Serbia to extend her career-best run at the Australian major.