Second seed Venus Williams fought back from a terrible start to overcome talented Slovakian Daniela Hantuchova 3-6 6-0 6-4 today to reach the fourth round of the Australian Open.
Hantuchova completely outplayed an error-prone Williams in the first set and raced to a stunning 4-0 lead after breaking the reigning Wimbledon and U.S. Open champions' service twice.
Hantuchova cleverly mixed up her game with plenty of delicate chips and drop shots to make Williams run as much as possible.
But Williams regained her composure in the second set when Hantuchova's strong serve deserted her.
Williams won eight games straight, including four breaks of serve, as she raced through the second set and gained a crucial early advantage in the deciding third set.
But Hantuchova refused to give in and the pair swapped service breaks twice in the final set before Williams finally gained the decisive advantage in the ninth game and then served out the match.
The American will play 13th seed Magdalena Maleeva of Bulgaria in the fourth round.
South African 15th seed Amanda Coetzer, twice a Australian Open semi-finalist, advanced smoothly, beating 17th seed Barbara Schett 6-3 6-3.