Venus Williams has followed her sister Serena into round three of the Rome Open courtesy of a 7-6 6-1 win over Ekaterina Makarova.
Williams looked to be heading for an opening set defeat when she was broken early in the encounter.
However, the American broke back late in the set to force a breaker. The lead changed hands on several occasions before former world number one Williams ran out a 9-7 victor.
That loss appeared to knock the confidence of Russian Makarova, who was broken twice in the second set as Williams booked her place in the next round.
