MELBOURNE, Jan. 17 (UPI) -- Venus Williams Friday reached the final 16 at the Australian Open for the fifth time in as many appearances at Melbourne.
In cruising over Anca Barna of Germany, 6-1, 6-4, Williams moved a step closer to a showdown with her younger sister.
On the men's side, No. 2 Andre Agassi, a three-time Australian Open champion, advanced to the round of 16 for the seventh time with a 6-2, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 win over No. 29 Nicolas Escude of France.
Venus Williams, the No. 2 seed and a four-time Grand Slam winner, won 85 percent of first-serve points (29-of-34), registering five aces. Barna never found a consistent answer, converting just 2-of-12 break-point chances.
"I think definitely in the first set I was playing really well, sticking to my game plan," Williams said. "I think, in the second set, she lifted the level of her game. You change it up, try to do something different to also figure out the reason you're losing that set. I think that's what she did."
The former world No. 1 is gunning for her 29th career singles title.
Agassi needed almost 2 1/2 hours to outduel Escude. In the third set, the Las Vegas native saved 12 of 13 break points before taking a two sets to one lead.
"In hindsight, I can say it was good to be out there a little longer, test yourself, put yourself in a lot of tough situations," Agassi said. "I think that's what makes a difference in these tournaments, having a good day when you need it and getting through that tough day when things might not feel well. Today was one of those days."
The 32-year-old Agassi posted his fifth win in six career meetings with Escude. He now has a chance to become just the fourth player to win four Australian Opens. He captured the title in 1995, 2000, and 2001, made the semifinals in 1996, and reached the fourth round in 1998 and '99.
Roy Emerson won the event six times (1961, 1963-67), Jack Crawford (1931-33, 1935), and Ken Rosewall (1953, 1955, 1971-72) have lifted the trophy four times apiece.
Also on the women's side, fifth-seeded Justine Henin-Hardenne of Belgium coasted into the fourth round for the third straight year by crushing No. 32 Katarina Srebotnik of Slovakia, 6-2, 6-0.
Another Slovakian, No. 7 Daniela Hantuchova, overcame the hometown crowd in her third-round match, cruising to a 6-4, 6-2 win over Australian wild card Samantha Stosur.
Hantuchova is trying to reach her third straight Grand Slam quarterfinal, having made the last eight at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open last year.
No. 9 Lindsay Davenport, who captured the 2000 Australian Open title, recorded six aces and 27 winners on the way to a 6-2, 6-1 rout of Tatiana Panova of Russia.
"I played exactly the way I wanted to play, which was attacking a lot of balls and going for my shots," Davenport said. "I really, no matter what, wanted to play aggressive and be in charge of the points. That's, I think, when I play my best tennis, when I'm inside the baseline, going for my shots."
Davenport, a former world No. 1, also beat Panova last week in the semifinals at Sydney.
No. 12 Patty Schnyder of Switzerland moved on with a 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 win over Nadia Petrova of Russia, while Nicole Pratt of Australia upset Paola Suarez of Argentina, 7-5, 6-4, in a match that featured 11 service breaks, and Virginia Ruano Pascual of Spain advanced to the fourth round for the first time in nine tries with a 6-1, 4-6, 6-4 victory over Marlene Weingartner of Germany.
In other men's matches, No. 4 Juan Carlos Ferraro of Spain had to rally twice to improve to 3-0 lifetime against Fabrice Santoro of France, battling for a 4-6, 6-3, 4-6, 6-2, 7-5 victory.
Ferrero advanced to the round of 16 at Melbourne Park for the first time.
Costa, who beat Ferrero in the final of the 2002 French Open, crashed out in the third round at this Grand Slam event, falling to Felix Mantilla, 3-6, 6-3, 4-6, 6-1, 6-3.
Sebastien Grosjean of France, the 12th seed and a 2001 semifinalist, ran his winning streak against Nicolas Lapentti of Ecuador to four matches with a 6-1, 6-3, 6-3 win.
Wayne Ferreira of South Africa stormed back to beat Mardy Fish of the U.S., 2-6, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4, 6-0.
Fish owned a 4-1 lead in the fourth set and was five points from his first berth in the final 16 of a Grand Slam event before collapsing, dropping the final 11 games of the match.
"I don't know if I got tired," Fish said. "I didn't feel tired in the end. I had a lot more unforced errors in those last two sets than the first two, obviously."
Unseeded Mario Ancic of Croatia and Guillermo Coria of Argentina also advanced.
