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MELBOURNE — Serena Williams overcame an error-strewn start yesterday to thwart Anastasia Potapova and ensure her bid for history at the Australian Open tennis tournament continued.

The 23-time Grand Slam winner had 31 unforced errors but wore down the Russian 7-6 (7/5), 6-2 in 97 minutes on Rod Laver Arena to set up a fourth-round showdown with seventh seed Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus.

“Definitely good to be in the fourth round,” she said.

“I came out of the blocks not like I have been (before). But it’s all about surviving and playing better every round.”

The 10th seed had been in strong form so far in Melbourne as she chases Margaret Court’s record 24 Grand Slam tally, but was out-of-sorts in an error-strewn start to fall down a break.

But Potapova (19) had a meltdown trying to serve out the first set with five double faults squandering the golden opportunity.

A refocused Williams then lifted her intensity and won a tiebreak before cruising through the second set.

Williams, the seven-time Australian Open champion, will tomorrow play Sabalenka who thrashed American Ann Li 6-3, 6-1, with a place in the quarter-finals at stake.

Naomi Osaka had to deal with a butterfly landing on her nose but was otherwise little bothered as she breezed into the last 16 of the Australian Open and a showdown with last year’s runner-up Garbine Muguruza.

The third seed, champion in Melbourne two years ago, gently carried the insect intruder to safety at the side of the court before closing out an easy 6-3, 6-2 victory over Tunisian 27th seed Ons Jabeur in one hour and 18 minutes.

Japan’s Osaka, who has dropped just 13 games in her opening three matches, is great friends with Jabeur and said playing against her on John Cain Arena was “really fun”.

“I was really nervous and scared because I didn’t know if she was gonna hit a drop shot on me, so I felt kind of rushed,” Osaka said.

She also thanked the fans for attending on the day it was announced that Melbourne would go into five days’ lockdown from midnight, meaning stands will be empty from today.

“I hope that you guys enjoyed the match and thanks for coming out today.”

Australian Open organisers announced yesterday that players would compete in a biosecure “bubble” after the host city was ordered into a snap five-day lockdown, with spectators banned.

Two-time Grand Slam winner Muguruza, who lost in the final to Sofia Kenin a year ago, earlier beat Kazakhstan’s Zarina Diyas 6-1, 6-1 in just 56 minutes to set up the fourth-round clash with Osaka.

An aggressive Simona Halep revived her stuttering Australian Open campaign yesterday with a straight-sets demolition of Veronika Kudermetova in an ominous statement.

The world No. 2 served strongly and pierced the lines to overwhelm the 32nd seed 6-1, 6-3 in one hour and 18 minutes in the third                                                                       round.

“It’s always tough to play an opponent for the first time and I thought my serve helped me today … I’ve improved on my serve a lot,” said Halep, who hit 21 winners and four aces. — AFP.