Williams takes a bigger step

Serena Williams knew it had been quite some time since her last victory over a top-10 player. When told it had been two years, she shook her head and laughed in disbelief.

“Has it been that long? That’s a terrible stat,” Williams said Friday after beating fifth-seeded Nadia Petrova, 1-6, 7-5, 6-3, in the third round of the Australian Open.

It was Williams’ first win over a top-10 player since she won the 2005 event for her seventh Grand Slam singles title, beating Amelie Mauresmo in the quarterfinals, fending off match points against Maria Sharapova in the semifinals and overcoming Lindsay Davenport in the final.

Williams will face 11th-seeded Jelena Jankovic -- a 6-3, 6-4 winner over Victoria Azarenka -- on Sunday.

Top-seeded Maria Sharapova beat Russian compatriot Anastassia Rodionova, 6-0, 6-3, and defending champion Amelie Mauresmo, seeded second, beat Eva Birnerova, 6-3, 6-1. Third-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova also advanced, beating fellow Russian Maria Kirilenko, 6-1, 6-4.

Limited to four tournaments last year because of a chronic knee injury, Williams dropped out of the top 100 for the first time since 1997 before climbing back to 95th in the year-end rankings. In the first set, she made 18 unforced errors, many just missing the lines, and dropped serve twice.

“I felt like I was doing everything right in the first set, and she just killed me,” Williams said. “I was trying to figure out what to do.”

She did, dictating early in the second and having breakpoint at 3-0, before Petrova rallied to win the next four games and then had a chance to serve for the match in the 10th. Williams eventually won the set when Petrova double-faulted.

Williams broke Petrova again twice in the third and ended it in 2 hours 5 minutes when Petrova netted a service return.

“She came up with some unbelievable returns,” said Petrova, 1-6 against Williams.

On the men’s side, second-seeded Rafael Nadal beat Philipp Kohlschreiber, 7-5, 6-3, 4-6, 6-2, and 14th-seeded Novak Djokovic defeated Danai Udomchoke, 6-3, 6-4, 5-7, 6-1.

Nadal was peeved after being hit once on the hand and sent sprawling by another stinging shot aimed in his direction by Kohlschreiber in the second set of their second-round match. Nadal rose slowly, looking back and shaking his head.

“The first one I understand, fine -- you are in the net, you want to win the point,” Nadal said. “But the second one ... he has all court.”

Said Kohlschreiber: “He was in the way, I think. It’s tough, if you’re not sure to pass him, go to the middle and play fast. I know he’s not used to play so good volleys. For me, it was just a normal play.”

Rain forced a delay in the start of some matches on the outside courts today, and the showers quickly returned, forcing a suspension for nearly two hours. The roofs on Rod Laver Arena and the other show court were closed, allowing play to continue.