Rusty Serena on track

MELBOURNE, Jan 24, 2009 (AFP) - Rusty triple champion Serena Williams booked an Australian Open fourth round clash with rising teen star Victoria Azarenka Saturday as the men's French revolution gathered pace.

Williams, the tournament favourite, crushed China's Peng Shuai 6-1, 6-4 to set up an intriguing showdown with Azarenka after the Belarusian ended any hope Amelie Mauresmo had of repeating her 2006 heroics here. Dangerous fourth seed Elena Dementieva survived an early scare to beat local favourite Samantha Stosur 7-6 (8/6), 6-4, while Britain's Andy Murray floored Austria's Jurgen Melzer 7-5, 6-0, 6-3 in the men's draw.

The Scot was joined in the round of 16 by three Frenchmen - Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Gilles Simon, Gael Monfils, with Richard Gasquet locked in a tussle with Chile's Fernando Gonzalez.

Stung by a listless "D-minus" performance in the second round and sister Venus' shock exit at the same stage, Williams stamped her authority on Peng early.

Peng mounted a stiffer challenge in the second set but couldn't match the American's power, leaving Zheng Jie as China's only player left in the draw.

Wimbledon semi-finalist Zheng, the 22nd seed, beat Ukraine's Kateryna Bondarenko 6-2, 6-2 to continue her best-ever Australian Open showing with a fourth round tie against former US Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova.

"It was definitely a lot better than my second round. But, you know, I'm still trying to work on some things and hoping they'll come together," said Williams.

"I'm feeling a little rusty, for whatever reason. I'm hoping my next round I'll be a little better."

She added that her sister's shock upset in the second round had given her extra motivation to win a 10th Grand Slam title.

"It obviously increases my motivation and my desire to win and hopefully do better."

The woman who beat Venus, Spain's unseeded Carla Suarez Navarro, continued her surprise march, easily beating countrywoman Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez 6-1, 6-4. Next up for her is another Spaniard, Anabel Medina Garrigues, who sent Italian 12th seed Flavia Pennetta packing 6-4, 6-1.

Suarez Navarro said she wasn't thinking too far ahead.

"Maybe, maybe not," she said of her quarter-final chances.