The first week of the Australian Open is done and the quarterfinals are set…on the women’s side. The QFs should be set on the men’s side in a few hours. The biggest news from the weekend was that Roger Federer – who was the defending champion – went out in the fourth round to a Greek kid, Stefanos Tsitsipas. But surely the biggest news today is that Serena Williams WON. She won her fourth round match against WTA #1 Simona Halep. In the first set, Serena rolled Simona, but then Simona fought back in the second and third sets. That was the hardest Serena has had to fight since she came back post-pregnancy, and yes, I’m saying that she fought harder here, tennis-wise, than she did in last year’s US Open and Wimbledon finals. It was a really, really good match. Here’s the final game:

While Halep was Serena’s toughest opponent thus far, there’s been a lot of emotion on court from Serena and around Serena. She’s consoled TWO different crying players at the net after the match, and Serena looked like she was about to cry at times during today’s match, especially when Halep got some luck with balls rolling over the net cord. Still, the funniest moment happened when both women were announced to walk on the court:

It's better with sound. pic.twitter.com/xAddacSswz

— Nikhila (@kokudum) January 21, 2019

To be fair, the lower ranked player (Serena) would usually be announced first. Simona was laughing her ass off at Serena’s backtrack. Anyway, Serena will next play Karolina Pliskova, who has one notable win against Serena, at the US Open in 2016. Then again, Serena beat her at the USO last year. So… will Serena make it to the final? Naomi Osaka is looming, probably, in the semifinal. I don’t know. Is #24 happening in Oz???

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.