MELBOURNE, Jan. 16 (UPI) -- Lindsay Davenport stormed to a third-round victory at the Australian Open Friday while Venus Williams needed to turn it on to keep from having to endure a third set.
Davenport, the ninth seed, continued to dispel any concerns about her form by coasting past Tatiana Panova, 6-2, 6-1.
Williams, seeded second behind sister Serna, found herself trailing, 4-2, in the second set against Germany's Anca Barna. But Williams won the last four games of the match to dispose of Barna, 6-1, 6-4.
Davenport, winner of this Grand Slam event two years ago, struggled to get past world No. 57 Iroda Tulyaganova in three tight sets in the previous round. But there was no difficulty against the Russian, winning in 53 minutes.
She became the first woman to reach the fourth round and will next meet fifth-seeded Justine Henin-Hardenne, who easily defeated Katarina Srebotnik of Slovenia, 6-2, 6-0.
Davenport was joined in the fourth-round by unseeded Australian Nicole Pratt, who defeated Argentinean Paola Suarez, 7-5, 6-4, in front of a boisterous home crowd on Rod Laver Arena.
It is the first time in 10 years that an Australian woman has made it through to the round of 16. Nicole Provis was the last to do so in 1993.
Pratt, the highest ranked Australian at No. 54, was down a break at 3-4 in the second set against her higher-ranked opponent, but managed to run away with the final three games to seal the match.
Tournament giant-killer Marlene Weingartner, who defeated defending champion Jennifer Capriati on the first day of the tournament, was beaten by Virginia Ruano Pascual 6-1, 4-6, 6-4.
