WTA Tour - Venus battles past Mirza

Eurosport - Thu, 16 Apr 08:55:00 2009

Second seed Venus Williams needed three sets to beat battling Indian Sania Mirza 6-1 3-6 6-2 in the second round of the Family Circle Cup in Charleston.

2009 WTA Charleston Venus Williams - 0

After dominating the opening set, American Williams found herself in trouble in the second as the 100th-ranked player produced some great defence to save 10 out of 11 break points while breaking the American twice.

Williams finally took control of the match in the third set, dominating Mirza to finally move on after a battle lasting almost two hours.

Williams will face Sabine Lisicki, seeded 16th, in Thursday's third round match after the German beat Slovakia's Lenka Wienerova 6-4 6-3.

"These kind of matches are great to pull out," Williams said. "I've been in these situations before, so I rely on that."

American Melanie Oudin also advanced to the third round with an upset 7-5 6-0 victory over Aleksandra Wozniak of Canada, the ninth seed.

"I was really happy with the way I played and how I kept it up, especially through playing a set and not letting her come back at all," said Oudin, ranked 176 in the world.

Fifth-seed Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark continued her progress with a 6-3 6-3 win over Russian Alla Kudryavtseva but number eight seed Patty Schnyder of Switzerland was eliminated by Russia's Elena Vesnina 2-6 7-6 5-7.

China's Peng Shuai advanced, but only just, with a 7-5 2-6 7-5 victory over Akgul Amanmuradova of Uzbekistan.

There was a surprise in the all-Ukrainian clash between 11th seed Alona Bondarenko and lower ranked Viktoriya Kutuzova, who ran out the 6-4 7-5 winner.

Russian Anastasia Rodionova beat American 12th seed Bethanie Mattek-Sands 6-2 6-4 to go through to the third round.

Reuters

Comment 1 - 8 of 8

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  1. well done Venus. champion's mentality.

    From aleksicn93, on Thu 16 Apr 3:34PM

  2. I think by the ned of Wimbledo 09 Venus will be the­ world number 1 does anyone agree?

    From B, on Thu 16 Apr 1:39PM

  3. it is not safina who should be no 1. It shows lack of­ respect for the big winners; serena, venus, henin,­ hinges, navrtolova, graff to name a few.. Safina game­ is embarassing.. Venus is no 1, these women has more­ than 5 slams

    From Augustine A, on Thu 16 Apr 1:29PM

  4. Love the Williams so powerful and great! Just checked­ out the head to head against Monica Seles and Venus­ rules 9-1 while baby sis Serena leads 4-1. Vee and Rena­ u r the best!

    From Vic M, on Thu 16 Apr 11:56AM

  5. Great to watch the William sisters play. They are an­ inspiration. Cheerio

    From Ekuwa, on Thu 16 Apr 10:42AM
  6. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    i would rather eat my own scabby toes

    From ajpbolton, on Thu 16 Apr 7:37AM

  7. If you are a fan of the Williams sisters, please join­ the fan group I have made on yahoo groups. It's­ called­ "serenawilliamsandvenuswilliams-thefangroup".­ Original I know :). Thankyou.

    From Ben O, on Thu 16 Apr 12:54AM

  8. Well Done Venus i thought Mirza would be tough. Keep­ fighting and you could still win this competition from­ Simone Clarke

    From B, on Wed 15 Apr 10:28PM
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