Original Blog Entry: Venus Williams

NBey6 — Wed, 25 Sep 2013 16:15:14 GMT

Venus Williams advances

Updated: September 25, 2013, 10:52 AM ET

Associated Press

TOKYO -- Venus Williams rallied from a set down to defeat Simona Halep of Romania 4-6, 7-5, 6-3 Wednesday and reach the quarterfinals of the Pan Pacific Open.

Williams, making her first appearance in the Tokyo tournament since 2009, broke serve to lead 5-3 in the third set at Ariake Colosseum. She then won with a crosscourt forehand that No. 13-seeded Halep hit into the net.

It was a very tough match, Williams said. She played very well. I don't know how I was able to win the match. I just wanted to stay in Japan longer.

Williams, who ousted top-seeded Victoria Azarenka on Tuesday, will face Canada's Eugenie Bouchard in the quarterfinals.

Bouchard upset sixth-seeded Jelena Jankovic of Serbia 7-5, 6-2.

Making her debut in the Tokyo tournament, Bouchard broke Jankovic to go up 5-2 in the second set and then held serve to win.

Jankovic had a 5-4 lead in the first set but Bouchard won the last three games after a talk with her coach.

I felt like I wasn't playing my best in the first set, Bouchard said. But I stayed with her and started to get a lot more aggressive near the end of the first set and that was the turning point.

The 46th-ranked Bouchard won last year's junior Wimbledon title.

That gave me a lot of confidence to play in the pros, Bouchard said. Playing week in, week out against the top players has made me a better player.

In other third-round matches, fourth-seeded Caroline Wozniacki defeated Magdalena Rybarikova 6-1, 6-1, and second-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska beat Dominika Cibulkova 6-3, 6-4.

Fifth-seeded Angelique Kerber of Germany defeated No. 11-seeded Ana Ivanovic of Serbia, 6-4, 6-2, and Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic beat No. 12-seeded Samantha Stosur of Australia, 6-4, 6-4.

Copyright 2013 by The Associated Press

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