Former world No.1 Angelique Kerber has signalled her Australian Open intent with a stirring second-round win over Venus Williams at the Sydney International.
In a blockbuster match delayed two hours by Tuesday's thunderstorm, Kerber overcame a first-set fadeout to win 5-7 6-3 6-1 and continue her 2018 revival.
The two-time grand slam champion, who has now won her past six matches following last week's unbeaten Hopman Cup meet, meets Dominika Cibulkova in Wednesday's quarter-final.
Kerber, who dropped to world No.22 following a disastrous 2017 season, appeared on her way to an easy night when she served for the first set on Ken Rosewall Arena.
However the world No.5 Williams, playing her first match in Sydney since claiming gold at the 2000 Olympics, flicked the switch and reeled off the final three games to take the lead.
In response, the German showed off her new-found resilience by breaking the seven-time major winner four times to claim the second set and level the match.
Williams again attempted to wrestle back the momentum in the deciding set, however Kerber absorbed the punishment before pouncing on the tiring American's mistakes.
The highlight of a dominant third set was a breathtaking lob of an approaching Williams as she broke her serve for the sixth time in the match.
The 29-year-old is now fast approaching the form that elevated her to the top ranking at the end of 2016, when she won both the Australian and US majors.
"I'm feeling really good. I say goodbye to 2017 and I'm really happy that the new year's beginning," Kerber said.
"I had good matches in the last few days and I'm really looking forward to being here.
"It's always tough, she's a champion. She played an unbelievable 2017 so I just tried to play my game tonight.
"I'm really looking forward to a lot of matches before going to Melbourne. Close matches, tough ones, second round against Venus is a tough round but I'm in the next round now."
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