Swaying side-to-side while standing inside the baseline to return serve, Venus Williams looked like a woman going places even while standing still. Spinning her wheels with a series of forehand errors early, Williams found her range in a first-set tiebreaker, beat Ekaterina Makarova to the ball in running rallies, and squeezed the Russian's resolve in winning six straight games to seal a 7-6 (7), 6-1 win.
The 23-year-old Makarova made her mark on the Williams family in January when she scored a stirring, 6-2, 6-3, victory over Serena to advance to her first Grand Slam quarterfinal. The left-hander snapped Serena's 17-match Melbourne winning streak in handing the 12th-seeded American her first Australian Open loss since the 2008 quarterfinals, and one of the most lopsided defeats of her Grand Slam career.
Makarova was at it again today, using her curling crosscourt forehand to great effect, as she both opened the angles and tied up Williams with body blows to serve for the opening set at 5-4. Venus' ongoing battle with Sjögren's Syndrome may have sapped some of her strength, but her speed remains undiminished. At the age of 31, Venus is still one of the fastest women on the tour. Using her long strides to cover the court quickly, Williams began to add more air to her shots, playing her sometimes troublesome forehand with more topspin for greater net clearance. She broke back for 5-all, only to see Makarova lift her level and save set points as the set escalated into overtime.
The 39th-ranked Russian saved set points at 4-6 and 5-6 in the breaker, the second on a backhand pass down the line. Williams earned a fifth set point and put her legs to use with a series of defensive stabs, but Makarova won a crackling 24-shot rally to level at 7-7. Williams bent over to catch her breath. Shaking off the fatigue, Venus shifted into attack mode, following an inside-out forehand approach to net, where she nudged a soft forehand volley winner into the front court for a sixth set point. When Makarova's running backhand missed the mark, Williams wrapped up a 64-minute first set of momentum shifts in which both women won 41 points.
Makarova reached the fourth round of Roland Garros last spring, and when she's hitting her spots with her serve and forehand, she has the weapons to pose problems for elite players. But consistency can be an issue, and she was not nearly as accurate as Williams when hitting on the run in the second set. Venus whipped a forehand pass down the line for break point, broke for a 2-1 lead when Makarova banged a backhand into net, and never looked back in completing a 95-minute win.
The degree of difficulty should spike for Venus, who takes on 2010 French Open finalist Samantha Stosur in the third round. Williams has won four of their five meetings, but Stosur scored a 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 victory in their last match, last month's Charleston quarterfinals. The winner will face second-seeded Maria Sharapova or Ana Ivanovic in the quarters.
—Richard Pagliaro