MELBOURNE, Australia – It wasn’t just Serena Williams’ serve that was missing Monday at the Australian Open. It was her aura.

No. 56 Ekaterina Makarova, the lowest-ranked player left, didn’t seem the least bit frightened of her error-ridden opponent.

The Russian won 6-2, 6-3 – equaling the biggest Grand Slam defeat of Williams’ 17-year career – and will face Maria Sharapova in her first Grand Slam quarterfinal.

Sharapova rallied past Sabine Lisicki 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 before men’s defending champion Novak Djokovic fended off a resurgent Lleyton Hewitt in a dramatic last match of the day, winning 6-1, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3.

With Hewitt’s loss, Australia’s chances of celebrating a home singles winner are over. American hopes had already evaporated with the defeat of five-time champion Williams – her first in Melbourne since 2008 and earliest since 2006.

“I can’t even describe how I served, to be honest,” said Williams, who finished with seven double-faults. “My lefty serve is 
actually better than that. Maybe I should have started serving lefty.”

Williams also threw in 37 unforced errors, but Makarova played her part, boldly going for the lines and holding steady in a tight service game while leading 4-3 in the second set. Playing Williams in Beijing in 2009, Makarova said she had been “afraid” of the American.

“I really thought that I could beat her,” she said. “Maybe in my head that helped me.”

Sharapova can look forward to a quarterfinal against Makarova after overcoming her own problems. Sharapova hit eight double-faults and made 47 unforced errors but, unlike Williams, found a way to win against the 14th-seeded Lisicki.

“I fought to the end and sometimes that’s what gets you through,” said the Russian, who lost six games in a row after taking a 3-0 lead in the first set.

Djokovic won 23 straight sets at Melbourne Park before he wobbled against Hewitt, a two-time Grand Slam champion who slipped to No. 181 after a series of injuries.

Hewitt, a wild-card entry in his 16th straight Australian Open, rallied from 3-0 down in the third set in front of a raucous home crowd to force a fourth set, but Djokovic gathered his composure.

“I think for two sets and 3-0 I was playing really well and suddenly I stopped moving,” Djokovic said. “He was not making a lot of unforced errors. I made a lot of unforced errors in the third set.”

Next up for Djokovic is No. 5 David Ferrer, who had a surprisingly easy win against Richard Gasquet.

No. 2 Rafael Nadal and No. 3 Roger Federer are in action Tuesday. Federer plays former U.S. Open champion Juan Martin del Potro while Nadal faces Tomas Berdych.