In a stunning upset, No. 56 ranked Ekaterina Makarova of Russia defeated No. 12 seed, Serena Williams of the USA in straight sets, 6-2, 6-3 in round 4 of the Australian Open.
Williams had seven double faults, several to set up break points, to allow Makarova to earn one of the biggest wins of her career. Makarova now advances to the quarterfinals against either 2008 champion Maria Sharapova or Sabine Lisicki
Williams came into the tournament with a badly-injured left ankle that forced her to pull out of a warmup tournament in Brisbane two weeks ago. In the match she appeared to be moving well, but made 37 unforced errors and had her service broken while trying to stay in the match.
Makarova won on her fourth match point when a Williams backhand went wide.
Makarova has now defeated three seeded players in the tournament, No. 25 seed, Kaia Kanepi, No. 7 seed, Vera Zvonareva, and now No. 12 seed, Williams.
