MELBOURNE, Jan. 18 (UPI) -- Venus Williams, her mobility restricted by tendinitis in her left knee, rallied with power to advance to the fourth round of the Australian Open Friday.
The second-seeded Williams fired seven aces and 39 winners to survive a challenge by No. 32 Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia 3-6, 6-0, 6-4.
The reigning Wimbledon and U.S. Open champion, Williams extended her overall winning streak to 22 matches. She reached the round of 16 here for the fourth time in as many attempts.
Williams seemed to be running out of energy after Hantuchova, the 18-year-old who won the mixed doubles title at Wimbledon last year, knotted the final set, 4-4. But, she held on to set up a fourth-round matchup with No. 13 Magdalena Maleeva of Bulgaria, who posted a 7-5, 6-1 win over another American, No. 18 Lisa Raymond.
In the tournament's first all-British pairing since the Open era began in 1968, sixth-seeded Tim Henman defeated Greg Rusedki, 6-4, 6-3, 1-6, 6-3.
Henman, the top seeded man after the five seeded above him all fell by the wayside earlier, will meet Sweden's Jonas Bjorkman, who upset No. 12 Guillermo Canas of Argentina, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4.
In the women's draw, No. 3 Martina Hingis of Switzerland enjoyed a far easier path to the last 16 than rival Williams. The former world No. 1 crushed Barbara Rittner of Germany, 6-1, 6-0 in
just 46 minutes.
A three-time winner here, Hingis next faces 15th seed Amanda Coetzer of South Africa, who cruised to a 6-3, 6-3 win over 17th seed Barbara Schett of Austria.
Monica Seles continued her quest for a fifth Australian Open crown as the eighth-seeded American posted a 6-4, 6-4 victory over No. 31 Francesca Schiavone of Italy.
Seles improved to 40-2 lifetime in Melbourne, claiming the crown from 1991-93 and in 1996 and set up a fourth-round meeting with Spanish teenager Ana Isabel Medina Garrigues, who defeated France's Nathalie Dechy, 6-3, 6-2.
In a battle of Italian players, Adriana Serra Zanetti upset 11th seed Silvia Farina Elia, 6-2, 4-6, 6-4, and will meet Martina Sucha of Slovakia, also unseeded, who defeated Asa Svensson of Sweden, 6-0, 6-4.
In other men's action, only two seeded players joined Henman in the last 16 in this topsy-turvy Grand Slam event. No. 16 Thomas Johansson of Sweden fired 20 aces and rallied past No. 21 Younes El Aynaoui of Morocco, 5-7, 6-2, 6-2, 6-4.
Johansson will go up against Romania's Adrian Voinea in the fourth round. Ranked 97th on the TP list at the end of 2001, Voinea outlasted American wild-card entrant Taylor Dent, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 in their dramatic 2 1/2 hour tussle.
No. 26 Jiri Novak cruised past Francisco Clavet of Spain, 6-3, 6-4, 6-1 and the Czech will meet a Slovakian in the last 16. Dominik Hrbaty held on for a 6-3, 6-1, 6-7 (6-8), 7-5 over Jerome Golmard of France.
Austrian Stefan Koubek will face Chilean Fernando Gonzalez in the fourth round. Koubek battled past Kristian Pless of Denmark, 7-6 (7-4), 7-5, 6-3, and Gonzalez rolled past Alex Kim of the United States, 6-2, 6-2, 6-3.
