Serena takes aim at pocket rocket as Venus finds Keys

Top seed Serena Williams is aiming to shoot down Slovak pocket rocket Dominika Cibulkova in the Australian Open quarter-finals Wednesday, as resurgent sister Venus plays the generation game with teen Madison Keys.
The American siblings, for so long a dominant force in women's tennis, will meet in a Grand Slam semi-final for the first time since Wimbledon 2000 if they win their respective last eight clashes.
Serena, 33, has progressed in typical fashion so far -- drifting along until she needs to flip the turbo and power past an opponent -- while 34-year-old Venus has been a revelation after a long illness.
Serena is chasing her sixth Australian title and 19th Grand Slam overall, which would take her to clear second after Steffi Graf's 22 on the all-time Open-Era tally, with Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova also sitting on 18.
But she has underperformed at Melbourne Park in recent years and her world number one ranking will be under threat if she fails to down last year's Open finalist Cibulkova and take the title.
She faces an opponent in Cibulkova who had struggled since losing the 2014 decider to Li Na but is now brimming with self belief after crashing two-time champion Victoria Azarenka's comeback party.
The Slovak said she always felt good playing in Melbourne.
"The beginning of the year I always feel fresh. I always feel good from the off-season," she said.
Serena has a 4-0 record over 25-year-old Cibulkova but is wary of the pint-sized Slovak, one of the shortest players on tour at 1.61 metres (5'3"), who has tested her in the past.
"She's a really good player. I mean, to be her size, she hits so hard and she plays so well," the American said. "She's just such a power, compact, great player.
"I just have to stay focused and not underestimate her. She actually almost beat me before. I want to make sure I come ready and prepared."
- 'She was in diapers' -
Seven-time Grand Slam champion Venus, the trailblazer for black women in tennis, faces a new-generation African-American star in Keys who idolised the veteran Williams sister as a child.
"She started watching me when she was in diapers," Venus wryly noted of the Florida-based 19-year-old.
Venus has a 9-0 record in 2015, including winning the Auckland Classic lead-up event, as she continues a remarkable comeback from a long battle with the energy-sapping Sjogren's Syndrome, which was diagnosed in 2011.
She has come through two three-setters on the way to the quarters, admitting she was "in a trance" at the end of her last match against Polish sixth seed Agnieszka Radwanska.
Keys, who is coached by former Australian Open champion Lindsay Davenport, lost to Venus in their only meeting in 2013 but believes she is ready to step up and become a Grand Slam contender.
"I'm just really excited. I think it's a huge opportunity for me. I haven't been in this situation before and I'm going to make the most of it," she said.
"But at the same time no matter what, I'm not really going to be satisfied with any win.
"I want to be at the end of the tournament holding the trophy up. That's my goal in the long run."
Source: AFP