17-match winning run ni Serena sa Australian Open winakasan ng 56th-ranked na si Ekaterina Makarova

MELBOURNE, Australia — Nagwakas na ang 17-match winning streak ni Se¬rena Willliams sa Australian Open matapos ang kanyang 6-2, 6-3 pagkatalo kay Ekaterina Makarova, ang lowest-ranked player sa fourth round.

Dalawang laro lamang ang naisuko ni  Williams sa Melbourne Park matapos angkinin ang una sa kan¬yang limang Australian Open titles  noong 2003.

Makaraang matalo sa 2008 quarterfinals, nagreyna si Williams noong 2009 at 2010 bago magpahinga no¬ong nakaraang taon da¬hil sa injury.

Napuwersa si Williams sa pitong double faults — apat sa fifth game ng se¬cond set —  at may 37 un¬forced errors na nagbi¬gay sa 56th-ranked na si Makarova ng tiket sa quar¬terfinals.

“Uhm, I think she played really well. She went for broke on a lot of her shots,” sa¬bi ni Williams. “I made 37 errors. That kind of tells the story of the match.”

Makakatapat ni Maka¬rova sa quarterfinals ang sinuman kina 2008 champion Maria Sharapova at Sa¬bine Lisicki.

“I don’t know what to say. Amazing feeling and first time in quarterfinals,” sabi ng 23-anyos na Russian left-hander. “(Williams is) an unbelievable player. It’s really tough to play against her so I’m really hap¬¬py I finished it in my way.”

Bukod kina Sharapova at Makarova, ang iba pang nasa quartyers ay sina  defending champion Kim Clijsters at Wimbledon winner Petra Kvitova.

Nagkaroon si Williams ng sprained left ankle sa isang  warmup tournament sa Brisbane dalawang linggo na ang nakakalipas.