Williams sisters push each other to victory at Open

MELBOURNE, Australia — Serena Williams saw that older sister Venus was progressing to the fourth round at a Grand Slam tournament for the first time since 2011 and it inspired her own comeback victory Saturday at the Australian Open.

Top-ranked Serena Willliams made a lackluster start to her third-round match against No. 26-ranked Elina Svitolina on Rod Laver Arena — knowing when she walked out that Venus was down a set and a break on a nearby court — but picked up her game after realizing her sister recovered and advanced with a 4-6, 7-6 (3), 6-1 victory over Camila Giorgi.

Svitolina “kept hitting winners in the first set, there’s not much I can do. Then I saw (Venus’) score and thought ‘Wow she’s winning, well, I can do better,’ ” Serena Williams said after her 4-6, 6-2, 6-0 victory. “We always motivate each other.”

She’ll have to be at the top of her game in the next round as she meets No. 24 Garbine Muguruza, who beat her in the second round at the French Open last year. Muguruza defeated Timea Bacsinszky 6-3, 4-6, 6-0.

Venus Williams couldn’t contain her delight after her victory on Margaret Court Arena, beaming a smile as she turned to wave to all sides of the stadium and then moved to the music blaring over the loud speakers. She said the sibling relationship, and rivalry, helped both of the Williams sisters.

The 34-year-old, seven-time major winner next faces sixth-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska, a semifinalist here last year and Wimbledon finalist in 2012, who advanced with a 6-0, 7-5 victory over Varvara Lepchenko.

Venus Williams was diagnosed with an auto-immune condition called Sjogren’s syndrome in 2011, which can cause joint pain and saps energy. In the 13 Grand Slam tournaments after her fourth-round appearance at Wimbledon that year, she skipped two and made first-round exits in four others, including the 2014 Australian Open.

She was only two points from a third-round departure in the second set against Giorgi, serving at 30-30 in the ninth game, before working her way back into the contest. Giorgi also had a chance to serve for the match but couldn’t hold. The Italian player contributed to her own demise with 16 double-faults.

“Well, this old cat has a few tricks left,” Venus Williams said in her on-court interview. Being back into the fourth round, “feels fantastic especially when things happen in your life and it’s not in your control, so it definitely feels awesome to be here, and I don’t want to leave it at that.”

Eighth-seeded Milos Raonic reached the fourth round at a fourth consecutive Grand Slam tournament, firing 22 aces in a 6-4, 6-3, 6-3 victory over Benjamin Becker of Germany.

Raonic became the first Canadian man to reach a Grand Slam semifinal at Wimbledon last year after making it to the quarterfinals at the French Open.

In late action Friday, Andreas Seppi stunned second seed Roger Federer 6-4, 7-6 (7-5), 4-6, 7-6 (7-5) in the third round, sending the four-time champion to his earliest Australian Open defeat since 2001.

Seppi had lost all 10 of his previous matches to Federer, but came out hot against the 17-time grand slam winner and overwhelming crowd favorite.

Federer, who won his last major in 2012, fought back to take the third set and dug in for what would have been his 10th comeback from two sets down.

Seppi, 30, took the fourth set into a tiebreaker and recovered after Federer earned a 3-1 lead.

Seppi fired a winning inside-out forehand for a match point and sent a passing shot out of Federer’s reach.