In all the four previous meetings of Venus Williams and Samantha Stosur, Williams was the winner in straight sets, while Stosur's maximum was to win four games in a set, which happened only on one occasion. Today in the quarterfinals of the Family Circle Cup, Stosur quickly equaled those four games in a set, and then straightforwardly won the opening set, before working her way to a 6-3 4-6 6-3 victory in two hours and 41 mintutes. Stosur's triumph means that there will be no all-Williams showdown in the semis.

The victory is even bigger for Stosur as she played another match today before the quarterfinal, another three-setter, against Galina Voskoboeva, which was continued from 4-2 15-0 in the first set. Stosur won 6-3 4-6 6-2 in two hours and two minutes.

Stosur pretty comfortably won the first set against Williams, by breaking the American in the sixth game, for 4-2, and not having any break points against herself in the entire set. Read more »

After a long break from tennis, Venus Williams claims not being used to winning in straight sets, but that’s exactly what she did against Jelena Jankovic in the second round of Charleston, and actually against three other players since her comeback at the recent tournament in Miami.

At 5-4 Jankovic was two points from taking the first set, but a double fault and a wide forehand assisted Williams to break her serve. Williams then won nine successive games to win 7-5 6-0 and make Jankovic the first of the six former champions in the draw to go out.

Exceptional movement and great sliding on clay, once the most beautiful parts of Jankovic's game, are not Jankovic's strong assets any more, while serve failed her as well and Williams broke her seven times.

Williams is playing her first claycourt tournament since 2010. Her quarterfinal opponent will be Anastasia Rodionova, who defeated Anabel Medina Garrigues 7-5 6-3. Venus could potentially face sister Serena in the semis. (sources: Women Who Serve, ESPN, photo: © Neal Trousdale)

Agnieszka Radwanska comfortably defeated three-time Miami champion Venus Williams, 6-4 6-1, to reach the semifinals of the tournament for the first time. Note that of five previous Agnieszka's losses to Venus, two happened in Miami, in 2009 and 2010.

Radwanska was the first to take charge, breaking Williams in the first game and confirming it with a 2-0 lead. However, Williams fired back and leveled. The ups and downs of the set didn't end there. Williams was constantly staying in there, but still, all the time she was catching up with Radwanska. The crucial moment was when Radwanska broke for 4-3 and then won the following game to love. In the first set Venus' first serve was 52%, to Radwanska's 83%, and Radwanska was dominant throughout.

Williams started the second set by holding serve, which was the first time in the match that she had a lead, but that was as much as Williams had in the set, as Radwanska quickly made her way to victory, ending the match by breaking Williams to love. Even though Williams was run over by Radwanska in the quarterfinals, we can celebrate her comeback as an absolute success. (photo: © Neal Trousdale)

No illness, lack of match play or low ranking can take away from Venus Williams, seven-time Grand Slam champion and three-time winner of the Sony Ericsson Open. After routing Kimiko Date Krumm 6-0 6-3 in the first round, practically Williams' first match in seven months, the former world No.1 eliminated third seed Petra Kvitova in the second round, 6-4 4-6 6-0.

The first set went with serve until the last game when Williams broke to take the set 6-4. In the second set, Kvitova made a crucial break to lead 3-2, and eventually 6-4. In the deciding set, however, Williams was relentless, routinely winning Kvitova's service games and bageling the Czech in 34 minutes.

"The third set was very cruel for me," Kvitova said after the match. While Venus, currently ranked 134th, said: "I actually didn't really realize the third set was 6-0… I was just trying to win the match, trying to get to six."

This Williams' victory is significant for one more reason – it's her 600th career win. (via WTA Tour, photo: © Neal Trousdale)

"I mean, just to be in this tournament is a huge win for me. Just to be here is a win."

Venus Williams joined Alisa Kleybanova in Miami as a player that made successful long-awaited and even questionable comeback. In addition, the tennis legend relaunched her fashion line EleVen, with toned-down, more conservative and appropriate designs.

In the first round of the Sony Ericsson Open Venus was playing her first singles match since  the US Open in September, that's almost seven months, and dispatched Kimiko Date Krum 6-0 6-3, losing just seven points on her serve and dropping just one service game. In the layoff period Venus was diagnosed with autoimmune disorder called Sjogren's Syndrome, and apparently the American has been excellent in learning how to  live with it and play tennis with it. Her game has to be smart and focused more than ever before, and she can't give points away. Next opponent, world No.3 Petra Kvitova, will be another big challenge for Venus. It will be interesting to see how this clash of two attackers goes.

Venus also used the grand comeback to promote her tennis clothing brand, which was at a standstill for some time. It's nice to see that bold fashion statements have given way to more subtle designs. In her opener Venus was wearing a classic black and white dress, without lace, fringe and mesh embellishments. The print in the bottom left quarter is the furthest Venus went with details, which is great for a change. Believe it or not, the back of the dress is not revealing and it's plain white! Thumbs up for the new style! (photo via WTA Tour, quote via ESPN)