MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) Venus Williams has advanced to the quarterfinals at Melbourne Park for the second time in three years, beating Mona Barthel 6-3, 7-5.
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Williams broke Barthel’s serve in the 11th game of the second set and served out, clinching the 1-hour, 36-minute fourth-rounder on her first match point.
Williams, who lost the 2003 final at Melbourne Park to her younger sister Serena, will next play Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, who beat fellow Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova in straight sets earlier Sunday.
Since losing that final in ’03, Venus advanced to the quarterfinals three other times in Melbourne, but hasn’t got past that stage.