Venus Williams surges into quarter-finals at Melbourne

Venus Williams continued her domination of Francesca Schiavone on Monday, coming back from a set down to defeat the Italian 3-6 6-2 6-1, and reach the quarter-finals of the Australian Open.

Seventeenth seed Schiavone, who had never beaten Williams in five previous matches, looked set to break the trend after taking the first set and an early break in the second.

Venus broke back immediately to steal the momentum, however, and then steamrolled the Italian in the last set with confident net-play.

"This is what I practice for 365 days a year for these moments, being down a set, a break. That's what makes it so enjoyable," Williams said in a courtside interview.

She next will play either Denmark's Caroline Wozniacki or China's Li Na for a place in the semi-finals.