Venus Williams claims Petra Kvitova scalp

Venus Williams has continued her impressive comeback following her return from a six-month hiatus from tennis, with a three-set win over Petra Kvitova at the Sony Ericsson Open.

The nine-time Grand Slam champion, who beat Kimiko Date-Krumm 6-0 6-3 on Wednesday, has dipped to 134th in the WTA rankings after only appearing in four tour tournaments in 2011.

However, she looked competitive as ever, as she took the world number three apart in the final set.

After Williams had snook the opener 6-4 and then lost the second by the same score, she destroyed the Czech in the final set, winning 93% of first-serve points and breaking three times on her way to a love set.

The American will now face Canadian Aleksandra Wozniak in round three.