Tennis: Dellacqua left empty-handed

VENUS WILLIAMS made it a hat-trick of victories against left-handers as she overcame Australia's plucky Casey Dellacqua on Rod Laver Arena today.

Williams won the match in straight sets 6-1, 7-6 (7/3), but was pushed until the end in a contest which lasted one hour and 47 minutes. It was the sixth seed's third win against left-handed opposition, after beating Lucie Safarova and Sybille Bammer in the earlier rounds, and the American has still to drop a set.

After a routine first-set win, Williams

broke the Dellacqua serve in the fifth game but the Australian rallied and broke back to level the set at 4-4. The 24-year-old Dellacqua pressed for another break before the set went to a tie-break.

Williams' class stood out in the decider as she forged 6-1 ahead, and while Dellacqua again rallied to save three match points, the American finally wrapped up the match with an ace.

Her sister Serena moved a step closer to successfully defending her Australian Open title with a 6-0, 6-3 victory over Carla Suarez Navarro.

• SCOTLAND'S Elena Baltacha tumbled out of the women's doubles after she and Latvian partner Liga Dekmeijere were beaten 6-0, 6-2 by Maria Kirilenko (Rus) & Agnieszka Radwanska (Pol).