Venus into quarter-finals

 

Originally published on: 26/02/10 13:02

The sixth seed had to recover from losing her first set at the tournament before winning 3-6 6-2 6-1 in one hour and 54 minutes on Rod Laver Arena.

The American is chasing her first ever title at the Australian Open – the only major she has yet to win in a glittering career – and will now play the winner of the match between fourth-seed Caroline Wozniacki and Na Li in the last eight.

Williams came into the match having never lost in five previous meetings with the 17th-seeded Italian, but struggled to find her rhythm on serve early and was immediately broken to love in a game that included two double faults.

Schiavone broke again to go 3-1 ahead with a clever lob that caught Williams out of position.

The American fought back to level at 4-4 before another double fault handed Schiavone the break back. The Italian then served out the set with an ace.

Williams’ service problems continued at the start of the second set as she was broken for the fourth time in five games.

But the seven-time grand slam winner’s recovery started when she immediately broke back as she won six of the next seven games to level the set.

Williams was broken again at the start of the deciding set, but Schiavone could not stem the flow of winners from the American’s racquet as she peeled off the next six games to go through to the last-eight.

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