Venus Williams Overcomes Groin Injury at Australian Open to Advance

Against all odds, Venus Williams overcame a serious groin injury and defeated 97th-ranked Sandra Zahlavova 6-7 (6), 6-0, 6-4 to advance into the third round at the Australian Open on Wednesday. The second-round match took three hours to complete.

The fourth-seeded Williams suffered the injury defending set point in the first-set tiebreaker while going up for an overhead with her backhand. Venus, who described the injury with ESPN after the match as "sharp" and "acute," screamed during the point as she felt what she described was a pull.

After she lost the point to go down a set, Venus took a medical timeout and went into the locker room to receive treatment. Williams, who has never retired from a Grand Slam in her career, returned to the court for the second set with her upper right leg taped.

Venus seemingly put the sluggish first set and injury out of mind, as she came out scorching in the second set. The seven-time Grand Slam champion managed to generate powerful serves and groundstrokes to batter Zahlavova in the second set. From there on, Venus commanded the speed of the match and began dictating pace as the momentum rapidly changed.

To start the third set, Zahlavova finally ended Williams' six-game streak and took the opening game.

The third set was tightly contested, but the 30-year-old Williams used her craftiness to pull off an incredible comeback under intense pain. Zahlavova's best was not good enough to put Williams away.

The vital break for Williams came during the seventh game of the decisive set. She broke Zahlavova to go up 4-3, and then held at 5-3. Even as Williams rallied, however, she continued to grimace in pain.

At 5-4 in the 10th game, Williams stayed composed and fittingly sealed the contest with a powerful serve on her second match point.

Williams, who described the match as "bizarre" in an on-court interview following the match, was seen limping up the stairs on her way out. Regarding the injury to her groin, she noted to ESPN that she "pulled it severely," but she was only going to retire if she could not move at all.

Williams ended the match with 43 unforced errors, many coming due to her lack of movement. But the powerful 48 winners -- including points from her service game -- was enough to keep the fighter alive and into the third round.