World number seven Venus Williams stumbled past China's Peng Shuai 6-2 6-7 6-2 to reach the quarter-finals of the Bangalore Open on Thursday. The American second seed, who was given a first-round bye, was stretched by her gritty 58th-ranked opponent in a second-round match that lasted nearly two hours.
The former world number one joined younger sister Serena, Swiss Patty Schnyder and Russian Vera Zvonareva as the seeds who have made it through to the last eight. Seventh seed Zvonareva beat Romanian qualifier Agnes Szatmari 7-6 6-1 and will meet Venus next.
Third-seeded Serena and fourth seed Schnyder booked their quarter-final places on Wednesday. Top seed and world number four Jelena Jankovic, also given a first-round bye, opens her campaign against Croat Sanda Mamic later on Thursday. Venus, a quarter-finalist at the Australian Open in January, had lost to a qualifier in Memphis last week.
She broke Peng in the fifth game with a powerful forehand to take control and wrapped up the set by mixing pace and angles. Peng came back strongly in the second, serving hard and returning with precision to trade breaks and win in the tiebreak. Venus found her rhythm in the decider, finishing with a flourish by winning the last four games.