Duan to face Venus Williams in third round of Australian Open

China's Duan Yingying defeated Vavara Lepchenko of Uzbekistan in the second round of the Australian Open tennis tournament here on Wednesday.

Duan defeated Vavarais 6-1, 3-6, 10-8 to set up a clash with American veteran Venus Williams in the third round on Friday, reports Xinhua.

Ahead of the meeting, both players admitted that they know nothing about each other.

"I've never played Venus before, so I don't think I will have any pressure, I'll just play my game and try my best," Duan told reporters via a translator post-match, admitting she's never even seen Williams play before.

"I don't really watch that much tennis, so I think my coach will do the job to try to tell me what I need to do on the court. I will take one day off tomorrow and let the coach do the job," she added.

Venus defeated Swiss qualifier Stefanie Voegele 6-3, 6-2 on centre court on Wednesday. She was glad to be back after combating an elbow injury that saw her withdraw from warm-up matches prior to the Australian Open.

"I go and see the physios (to manage the injury), and they have been doing a great job," Williams told reporters after sidestepping a question on how bad the injury is.

Venus is on the same page as Duan in terms of knowledge about her upcoming opponent.

"I don't know anything about her, I have never seen her play," Williams said.

--IANS

gau/sam/bg