Williams taken all the way

Williams nearly did not play

Wimbledon and US Open champion Venus Williams needed all her powers to fend off Daniela Hantuchova and reach the fourth round of the Australian Open.

Suffering a knee injury, the American second seed needed one hour and 47 minutes to take a 3-6 6-0 6-4 victory over her 28th ranked opponent.

Her reward is a tie with Bulgarian 13th seed Magdalena Maleeva in the final 16.

I played her at Wimbledon last year so I knew what to expect from her today

Venus Williams

It later emerged that Williams had only been passed fit to play an hour before the match started.

"It was a blessing to get through," said Williams.

"I played her at Wimbledon last year so I knew what to expect from her today."

Williams had beaten Hantuchova in straight sets at Wimbledon, but found the Slovakian a resilient opponent on Friday and almost got the fright of her life.

"I took yesterday off from training, I didn't want to, but they told me to," she said.

"I talked to my dad, my mum and (sister) Serena. The important thing was to get the swelling down in the knee."

Armed with a powerful forehand and tactics to move Williams about the court, 18-year-old Hantuchova rolled off the opening four games to shock the centre court crowd.

Williams was edgy at first but gradually played her way into the match and broke back in the sixth game to trail 4-2.

The powerful American was applying the pressure, but Hantuchova held serve and then broke Williams a third time taking control of the net and winning the set with a cracking backhand.

It was a shame I started badly in the second set because then she got on top of me, but I had my chances in the third."

Daniela Hantuchova

Roused by Hantuchova's flying start, Williams hit back straight away in the second set, breaking the Slovakian's serve three times to level the match without dropping a game.

The second seed had to work hard again in the final set and she appeared to get the decisive break in the seventh game on her second break point.

She powered a backhand down the line to take a 4-3 lead.

But Hantuchova was not to be denied and she fought her way to two break points before breaking an increasingly-anxious Williams again to level the set.

Williams powered several big forehands to the lines and broke Hantuchova's service for the third time in the set to lead 5-4.

She powered home in her final service game to wrap up the victory much to her relief.

Williams lost in straight sets to Maleeva the last time they played in the semi-finals at Nice last February.

"It was a nightmare," the American recalled.