Venus Williams survived a match point against the Czech Republic’s Barbora Zahlavova-Strycova on her way to the quarterfinals of the Qatar Open.
Williams looked set for a routine win early in the third set, pulling away to a 5-3 lead before Zahlavova-Strycova fought back, winning three straight games to go up 6-5, and in that game she brought up a match point with Williams serving at 30-40.
But Williams summoned one last burst of energy, winning three points in a row before sneaking out a tiebreak to finish off Zahlavova-Strycova, 7-5 3-6 7-6 (5).
The Czech player attempted to stare down Venus at the ritual exchange of handshakes at the net and Venus was not impressed.
Venus: Was that look for something?
Barbora: Well done?
Venus: OK, good.