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Serena Digs Deep, Earns 11th Trip To Australian Open Quarterfinals

MELBOURNE, Australia (CBSNewYork/AP) — With her serve misfiring and the ball coming back at her from some irregular angles, it was time for Serena Williams to go to Plan B.

Williams knuckled down and just scrapped her way to a 7-5, 6-4 win over No. 16-seeded Barbora Strycova on Monday to reach the quarterfinals of the Australian Open for the 11th time.

Despite four service breaks — two in the first four games — and 46 unforced errors, and with the fluky net cord and the off-balance, scrunched-shouldered backhand that bounced flatly and clinched her the first set on her eighth set point, she ground down Strycova.

"It's good to know I have a Plan B, or Option 2. I wasn't serving my greatest today, also she was putting a lot of returns in there," said Williams, who had a first-serve percentage of 45, and made four double-faults. "I feel like it was really good for me to win on probably not my best day, which is always good, because sometimes you rely on one shot and if it goes off, and then, like, what happens now?

"It was really good for me to almost lose that so I know my other game is going pretty good, too."

Serena Williams -- Australian Open
Serena Williams plays a backhand during her fourth-round match against Barbora Strycova at the Australian Open on Jan. 23, 2017, in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)

That keeps Williams on track in her bid for an Open-era record 23rd Grand Slam title. If she gets there, the 35-year-old American will regain the No. 1 ranking as well from Angelique Kerber.

Next up, she'll face No. 9 Johanna Konta, who beat Ekaterina Makarova for the second straight year in the fourth round. The 2016 semifinalist was only broken once and broke Makarova four times in the 6-1, 6-4 win.

She's excited at the prospect of a quarterfinal with Williams, one of her inspirations as a young player.

"She's one of the few players still playing I watched growing up," Konta said. "It's an incredible honor and I can't wait to share the court with her."

Mirjana Lucic-Baroni reached the semifinals at Wimbledon in 1999 as a 17-year-old and, after a long, difficult time off the tour, she has returned to the quarterfinals of a major for the first time since.

She beat U.S. qualifier Jennifer Brady 6-4, 6-2 and will next play U.S. Open finalist Karolina Pliskova, who ended Australia's involvement in the singles draws with a 6-3, 6-3 win over Daria Gavrilova.

Whatever comes of it, the 34-year-old Lucic-Baroni said she'd make the most of the moment.

"The way I stopped, it wasn't really kind of by my choice. I couldn't travel. I wasn't able to travel. I was stopped at the moment. I didn't want to stop," she said. "I felt kind of a little bit of unfinished business. I still wanted to play on a stage like this, on a full court like this. Come out, play, have these wins, be in a quarterfinal of a Slam.

"They're incredible feelings. I've done this sport since I was a little kid. These are kind of, like, awards for all the hard work."

Williams, a possible semifinal rival, was relaxed after her match, retelling a story about her recent engagement and a trip to Rome.

"I live in a movie and in a fairytale in my mind, so I guess eventually it was bound to happen," she said, talking of the circumstances of the marriage proposal from Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian.

No. 3-seeded Milos Raonic advanced with a 7-6 (6), 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 win over Roberto Bautista Agut and is getting more attention now that now that No. 1 Andy Murray, the five-time runner-up, and No. 2 Novak Djokovic, the six-time champion, are out of the draw.

Raonic still has a potential quarterfinal against Rafael Nadal, if the 14-time Grand Slam-winning Spaniard can get past U.S. Open semifinalist Gael Monfils later Monday.

Raonic hit 33 aces and 75 winners but had nine double-faults and 55 unforced errors, and seemed to get on a roll after spiking his racket into the court in frustration in the ninth game of the third set.

No. 15-seeded Grigor Dimitrov closed with an ace to hold off No. 117 wild-card entry Denis Istomin 2-6, 7-6 (2), 6-2, 6-1. Istomin, who upset six-time champion Novak Djokovic in the second round, needed repeated treatment on his tiring legs in the third and fourth sets.

He will next play No. 11 David Goffin, a 5-7, 7-6 (4), 6-2, 6-2 winner of No. 8 Dominic Thiem.

(TM and © Copyright 2017 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2017 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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