2005 Australian Open - Day #3
By Alix Ramsay  |  January 19, 2005

Sisterly love can only go so far. Serena Williams may play doubles with her sister, she may practice with her sister, she may joke, shop and giggle with her sister, she may even share a room with her sister but every now and then Venus gets on her nerves. It is something to do with all that talent and her irritating habit of hitting flashy winners out of nothing. So from time to time Serena takes matters into her own hands.

"I try to poison her sometimes but it never really works," she said with a laugh. "One time I put a pillow over her head, but she woke up. That didn't quite work out. I told her I was just moving the pillow."

Still, there is something about rooming with Venus that helps Serena win championships. "I actually think I play better when I hit with Venus because she just brings out the best in me," Serena said. "She's just slapping winners left and right, and I'm just at this point, "Oh, gosh."

So for me, I always do better when I practice with her." It appears to be working well so far. Against Dally Randriantefy, the youngest of the Williams clan did not pause for breath as she raced into the third round 6-3, 6-0. On a blisteringly hot day, Williams was in no mood to waste time and she was soon back in the air-conditioned bliss of the locker room.

Randriantefy's limited challenge told Williams little about the state of her game but it did provide a useful guide to her fitness. The stomach muscle problem that scuppered her chances in the WTA Tour championships appears to have cleared while Williams is looking slimmer and trimmer than ever.

"With the stomach, there's a lot of things I could not do and I had to gradually go forward and do it," she explained. It was really great that I didn't tear it and it was just a strain. You learn what you should do and what you should strengthen so you don't have to go through those injuries anymore.

"I'm feeling really good physically. I'm really proud of how I'm doing, how I'm feeling and I'm really excited that I'm feeling so well. I'm really looking forward to the rest of the tournament."

The next step on that journey takes her into the path of Sania Mirza of India. Williams had never heard of her before but had a sneaking suspicion that Mirza may have heard of heard of Serena "and she'll be ready to play my game."

Williams was in far better fettle than her rivals for the title. Amelie Mauresmo, Nadia Petrova and Maria Sharapova all dropped their opening sets before waking from their heat induced torpor and moving into the next round.

Andre Agassi needed no time at all to beat Rainer Schuettler 6-3, 6-1, 6-0 an set up an appointment with Taylor Dent. Two years ago Agassi dropped five games in his demolition of Schuettler in the final here, this time it was just four. Not bad for a bloke with a bad hip. All in all, Agassi was extremely happy with life and with the way his injury problems are receding.

"To say it was 100 per cent would probably be overstating it," he said. "But to be able to have the time to get it better up to this point is a great sign that it will be 100 per cent because I've got another day now. My movement was plenty good enough for me to think about my game and not think about that."

As for Dent, he will present a different challenge but one Agassi knows of old. He has beaten Dent three times and only once has Dent managed to win a set.

"I think Taylor is as difficult an opponent as one can have," Agassi said generously. "He plays the game like very few players play it anymore. He puts pressure on you constantly, makes you hit your shots. You got to be doing it with conviction. I'll have to be returning well and doing all sorts of things well, but that's no surprise. At this stage especially, I got to come out there ready right from the get go."

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