Sania Mirza put up a spirited fight against eighth-seeded American Venus Williams before crashing out in the third round of the women's singles event.
MELBOURNE: American eighth seed Venus Williams bludgeoned her way to victory in a slugfest with India's Sania Mirza to reach the last 16 of the Australian Open Saturday.
Williams went behind in the first set but blasted her way back to a 7-6 (7-0), 6-4 win over the 31st seed.
The Wimbledon champion said before the match that she expected an aggressive display from Mirza and the Indian delivered, looking like she was trying to belt the fuzz off every ball that came her way.
"She was definitely trying to dictate terms, so I just stuck with playing my game and didn't change it," Williams said.
But Williams said she always felt in control, even though Mirza went for broke and forced her onto the back foot early.
"I felt comfortable throughout the whole match," she said.
"I think ultimately I had a little more than her and it helped me in the end. I'm definitely serving very well."
Mirza worked hard to attack Williams and was rewarded with a break in the fifth game, when she went to the net and left Williams stranded at the baseline with a tightly-angled forehand return.
The 21-year-old held serve in the next two games to put the pressure on Williams at 5-3, coming within two points of taking the set but the six-time Grand Slam champion held on.
Staring down the barrel, Williams lifted her intensity to break back, then blasted two aces in the next game to go up 6-5.
Mirza saved two set points to take Williams to a tiebreak but the American proved two strong, holding her opponent scoreless to take the set after 50 minutes.
But Williams still struggled to seize the momentum and the second set went to serve as the pair tried to pound each other into submission with their power hitting.
The 27-year-old veteran finally pulled clear when she broke Mirza to go up 4-3, going on to serve out the set and claim victory with two aces in the final game.
Overall, Williams was happy with her game heading into the final week of the tournament, the only Grand Slam to elude her.
She was unconcered about the possibility of playing Serbian fourth seed Ana Ivanovic in the quarter-finals, who she defeated at Wimbledon and the US Open last year but has been one of the form players at Melbourne Park.
"I'm ready," she said when asked about meeting the world number three again.
Williams must beat either Chinese 24th seed Li Na or Polish qualifier Marta Domachowska to make the quarters.
Williams reached the Australian Open final in 2003 and the semis in 2001.
She pulled out with a wrist injury last year, was sent packing in the first round in 2006, and failed to get beyond the fourth round in 2004 and 2005.
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