Tennis: Venus inspires little sis

AAP

24 Jan, 2015 04:00 PM2 mins to read

Venus Williams will take on Poland's Agnieszka Radwanska in the fourth round. Photo / Getty Images

World No1 Serena Williams has drawn inspiration from her older sister and hero, joining Venus by reeling in a one-set deficit to advance to the fourth round of the Australian Open.

Venus got the ball rolling for the Williams family yesterday, hanging tough to beat Italy's Camila Giorgi 4-6 7-6 (7-3) 6-1 to set up a big clash with Poland's Agnieszka Radwanska.

While Venus was getting the job done against Giorgi, Serena was in early trouble against Ukraine's Elina Svitolina.

But after noting on the scoreboard that Venus had turned her fortunes around, Serena was able to do likewise in a 4-6 6-2 6-0 victory over the No 26 seed.

"She has so much motivation and at the same time she is super relaxed," said Serena of Venus. "It's really encouraging to see.

"I thought 'wow, she's been through so much with her illness, with everything that she's had to do, that if she can do it, I'm perfectly healthy and I'm fine, then I should be able to do it too.

"It just got me so motivated and really helped me push through those next two sets at a rapid rate."

Venus has won seven major titles, the most recent coming at Wimbledon in 2008.

Since then the 34-year-old has battled an auto-immune condition known as Sjogren's syndrome, with the win over Giorgi marking the first time since 2011 that she had advanced to the last 16 at a Grand Slam event.

"I've always believed in ability, but sometimes you don't get the results for whatever reason," said Venus.

The elder Williams will now take on Radwanska, who continued her relentless charge through the draw with a 6-0 7-5 win over American Varvara Lepchenko.

The 2012 Wimbledon runner-up has dropped just nine games in her first three matches to send a clear warning to her rivals as the championship heads into a second week.