Venus keeps Open dream alive

Evergreen Venus Williams can return to the last four of the Australian Open for the first time in 14 years with a quarter-final win on Tuesday.

In a tournament where 30-somethings have flourished, Williams’ rise is possibly the most astonishing.

On the men’s side, Roger Federer (35) has reached the last eight, with 30-year-olds Denis Istomin and Rafael Nadal bidding to join him on Monday.

Mirjana Lucic-Baroni (34), Serena Williams (35) have also found their way through to the quarter-finals.

Venus Williams has matched her result at her first Australian Open, back in 1998, in winning through to the last eight.

Standing in the 36-year-old’s path to the semi-finals is Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.

Williams said she hoped her experience would count when they meet on Tuesday morning on Rod Laver Arena.

“I know her game. I have played a lot of matches this tournament, kind of not knowing what to expect. That’s a whole different approach,” she said.

“I have played her. I know what to expect. So I can almost already be settled in before I get to that match. It’s a good thing.”

Pavlyuchenkova has reached her first quarter final at Melbourne Park, having made appearances in the last eight at the other majors.

But she’s never won a quarter-final in her three previous attempts.

The world No.27 already has two top scalps – 11th-ranked Elina Svitolina and eighth seed Svetlana Kuznetsova – in this year’s Open.

Williams is yet to face a seed but hasn’t dropped a set on the way to the Pavlyuchenkova match-up.

The American said she was less bothered about winning each match in straight sets, and more interested in simply winning.

“At this point of the tournament, you want to feel good and you want to feel like you’re doing everything perfectly,” she said.

“But really at the end of the day it’s about walking to the net and shaking hands as the winner.

“However that happens, two sets or three sets, that’s how I want to walk to the end, as a winner.”

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