Why It Really Seems Like Old Times For Venus Williams In Australia

— -- MELBOURNE, Australia -- Venus Williams played Lindsay Davenport for the first time in 1997 at Indian Wells. They played 26 additional times -- more often than Venus has played any other opponent -- including twice in the final at Wimbledon, which Williams won each time.

Davenport is 38, retired from singles, a TV commentator, married and the mother of four. Meanwhile, Venus is still playing, returning to her old form, and to further show how she is still thriving when past opponents are concentrating more on their IRA accounts, about to play an Australian Open quarterfinal against someone Davenport coaches: 19-year-old Madison Keys.

How much younger is Keys than Venus? "She started watching me when she was in diapers,'' said Venus, who turns 35 this summer.

Or perhaps in her mother's womb. Keys wasn't even born when Venus played her first WTA tournament.

Keys advanced to the quarters by beating fellow American Madison Brengle in straight sets, but Williams' victory was much more impressive. Venus beat No. 6 Agnieszka Radwanska 6-3, 2-6, 6-1 as she continues her comeback from illness and injury. It's still very early, but Venus has yet to lose a match this year (9-0) and is in the quarterfinals of a major for the first time since the 2010 US Open (when she reached the semis). She has won five of her past six matches against top-10 players.

Not that she's as impressed by this as everyone treating Monday's match as her biggest win in years.

"I guess from the outside looking in, it could look like that. But for me, I'm just really focused and poised right now,'' Venus said. "I feel like I've been here before, so it's not like I'm jumping up and down for joy, 'Oh, shoot, what is this? I've never done this!' Yes, I've done this. This is what I'm always going into each tournament thinking I want to do, even when I fall short. It's definitely not the first time.''

No, but this is the first time the Williams sisters have together reached the quarters in a major since Wimbledon in 2010. Serena advanced earlier in the day by rallying to beat Garbine Muguruza, the promising young player who knocked Serena out of last year's French Open in straight sets. Muguruza won the first set Monday but Serena woke up and won the next two.

"I had to play the best match of the tournament or else I was going to be out,'' Serena said. "I think she was just hitting winners, like, left and right. Every shot I hit, she basically hit a winner on. So I had to change my approach. I was hitting a little bit too much to her.''

Asked about lifting her game in the second and third sets, Serena replied: "I've been playing for a long time. When I have to go up a level, I have to. I can't afford to stay at the same level or I will be where I was at the French Open. I definitely didn't want to be there without at least trying to give 100 percent.''

Venus, on the other hand, won the first set Monday. A decade younger, Radwanska took the momentum in the second set, winning 6-2, and then won the first game of the third set to make it seem as if age might be a factor. Instead, experience was. Williams came roaring back and won the next six games to take the match.

"I think I played well when it mattered,'' Venus said. "Her style of game was completely different than the first three players I played. The first three players I played tried to blast me off the court. This was the first time there was any sort of rhythm at all. The way she hits the ball is so different. . ..

"It's definitely a balance between being aggressive and being patient and being smart because the way she plays is very deceptive.''

Monday's victories give the United States three women in the quarterfinals of a major for the first time since the 2004 US Open. The American men, however, are completely out of the Aussie, in both singles and doubles. The top-ranked Bryan brothers lost in straight sets Monday to Dominic Inglot and Florin Mergea 7-6 (4), 6-3.

"We just need to go back home ... and try to start our year,'' Bob Bryan said. "We definitely didn't start it here.''

Nor was Venus looking to end it here Monday. She wants more at this tournament, though winning it all won't be easy. Asked whether Keys might have an advantage because her coach knows Venus' game so well, Williams nodded.

"Lindsay comments on so many matches, I'm sure knows everyone's game,'' she said. "I'm sure that's why Madison is playing so well. I think my game has changed a lot since I used to play Lindsay, as well. I feel like I'm continually evolving, adding things to my game. I don't think it's the same report as it would have been at that time, however many years ago that was.''

A fair number of years, but not enough to stop Venus from winning.