Dellacqua out, but not without a fight

Venus Williams defeated Casey Dellacqua in the third round of the Australian Open today. She took the first set, 6-1, but this was one of those sets whose score does not reflect the action that occurred. In the second, Dellacqua--who missed most of last season because of shoulder reconstruction--thrilled the Aussie crowd by going all the way to a tiebreak with Williams. Then she thrilled them a bit more by saving three match points when she was down 1-6. Williams then hit an ace to win the match. Dellacqua converted only one of eight break points; Williams converted three of thirteen.

In a strange turn of events, Dellacqua became Williams' third left-handed opponent in a row.

In 2008, Dellacqua defeated both Patty Schnyder and Amelie Mauresmo to get to the round of 16.

Williams' next opponent will be the fighting Italian, Francesca Schiavone, who defeated 10th

seed Agnieszka Radwanska, 6-2, 6-2. Schiavone is seeded 17th. Radwanska is now 0-4 against Schiavone.

With the exception of Daniela Hantuchova and Li Na, most of the other matches played today were uncomplicated. Li defeated Hantuchova 7-5, 3-6, 6-2. For Gisela Dulko, it was too little too late; Vera Zvonareva defeated her 6-1, 7-5.

Serena Williams defeated Carla Suarez Navarro 6-0, 6-3; Victoria Azarenka defeated Tathiana Garbin, 6-0, 6-2; and Sam Stosur defeated Alberta Brianti 6-4, 6-1.