Sharapova Survives Venus Showdown

Perhaps the most anticipated match of the day lived up to its billing, as top seed and two-time Sony Ericsson Open runner-up Maria Sharapova battled past unseeded three-time former champion Venus Williams in three see-saw sets, 26 62 75. It was a somewhat erratic affair, with the two players committing a combined 91 unforced errors, but winners also flew during the match, and the closeness of the competition definitely kept the crowd cheering.

"I was happy with the way I was able to hold on - I'm a fighter and a competitor," said Sharapova, who was behind 3-1 in the third. "That's why I play the sport. I enjoy the battle of it; a lot of my matches depend on who fights more in the end."

"I struggled with my consistency a little bit," said Williams, who fell to 1-3 against the Russian. "The rhythm - there were a lot of points where I wasn't quite there."

Williams was playing just her second event of the season, having missed the first legs of the year due to a nagging left wrist injury. In her first venture last month, she captured her 34th career Sony Ericsson WTA Tour singles title at Memphis.

Next up for Sharapova will be either No.13 seed Serena Williams or No.23 seed Lucie Safarova. They were supposed to play a night match but it was postponed until Monday due to the aforementioned evening rains.

Henin never gives up; Hingis, Jankovic eliminated

The woman who just last week reclaimed No.1 from Sharapova, Justine Henin, found herself in an even more threatening predicament in her match-up with France's Virginie Razzano, overcoming a 5-1 third set hole to prevail, 62 26 76(5). She was two points away from losing in three games while fighting back from that deficit but never stopped grinding. It was her Tour-leading 10th consecutive match win this season.

"I came back from nowhere - it was when I was down 5-1 in the third set that I finally was calm for the first time," Henin said. "She played really well in the second and in the third. She gave me some oxygen at the end; I felt she was a little bit nervous and started to do mistakes that she didn't do until that time.

"It's in this kind of situation where I play my best. I've proven it many times in the past, and I think I will never change because I am like that."

Miami has never been Henin's best stage; she has never been past the quarters and again she was on the verge of an early round defeat here. But her fighting spirit is a rarity, never dying, and always growing stronger as she is being backed into a corner. She tried to explain her commitment to the grind afterwards.

"I love to play tennis; I love to fight. Sometimes you don't play your best but you have to keep fighting on every point. This is what I tried to do for a couple of years now. Everyone knows this isn't my favorite event but I hope match after match, being focused on every point, I can build something better this year."

Next up for Henin is No.18-seeded Vera Zvonareva, who notched a minor upset over No.16 seed Daniela Hantuchova, 62 64. Hantuchova was fresh off a title run at another Tier I event, at the Pacific Life Open in Indian Wells last week.

"I was looking forward to playing again even though I was tired; I just tried to get my energy back in the last few days," Hantuchova said. "It's a part of the game. You have ups and downs. As long as you give your best every day, it's fine."

The Top 2 were joined in the winners by fellow Top 8 seeds Svetlana Kuznetsova (No.3), Kim Clijsters (No.4), Nadia Petrova (No.6) and Nicole Vaidisova (No.8). But No.5 seed Martina Hingis and No.7 seed Jelena Jankovic were sent home; Hingis lost to Agnieszka Radwanska, 46 63 62, while Jankovic squandered a 62 52 lead during a 26 76(3) 64 loss to No.32 seed Mara Santangelo, who earned a Top 10 win for the first time. For more on Hingis' loss to Radwanska, click here.

No.9 seed Anna Chakvetadze, No.10 seed Dinara Safina, No.14 seed Shahar Peer and No.15 seed Li Na were also among the winners. Peer had the toughest test of that group, with a 76(5) 75 win over Julia Vakulenko. She faced three set points trailing 5-4 in the second set against the Ukrainian qualifier.

Seven fourth round matches and the Williams-Safarova third round match are all set for Monday's schedule. (WTA)