LONDON: Five-time champion Venus Williams reached the Wimbledon last-16 on Friday, seeing off Russian teenager Daria Kasatkina 7-5, 4-6, 10-8 in a tie featuring a rain stoppage when she held match point.
Williams, 36, was 7-6, 40-30 up on Kasatkina's serve in the final set on Court One when the tie was halted by the second rain delay of the day.
Seventy-five minutes later, the players returned with Wimbledon debutante Kasatkina saving the match point, the second of the day.
But Williams eventually triumphed at the third time of asking when the 19-year-old dumped a forehand into the net.
Williams, the eighth seed, goes on to face Spain's Carla Suarez Navarro for a place in the quarter-finals.
"I'm not sure I've ever played a 10-8 set. That was pretty intense. All you can think is 'hold serve'. Easier said than done," said the American.
"When we came off on match point, it was like something out of a movie.
"But she was inspired -- that was as much as a problem as the rain."