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 For top seed and 18-times grand slam champion Serena, her win
over former world number two Vera Zvonareva, on the comeback trail
after a 2014 season blighted by injury, was expected.
Venus's struggles with Sjogren's syndrome, an auto-immune disease,
have made every match she plays a lottery, but the 18th seed had
little trouble accounting for fellow American Lauren Davis 6-2 6-3.
Thirty-four year-old Venus was dumped from the first round last year
but now finds herself on a seven-match winning streak after
clinching the Auckland Open title in the lead-up.
"She is really motivating. She is playing so well, she's doing so
good right now," Serena, who famously completed the 'Serena Slam' by
beating her sister in the 2003 final at Melbourne Park, told
reporters.
"Yeah, it makes me look behind my shoulders and I have to play
better and I want to do better.
 "I always want to be able to stay ahead as much as I can. So I think
that's been, for our whole careers, we've kind of motivated each
other. We hopefully continue to do that."
Venus faces a tough third-round match against 33rd-ranked Camila
Giorgi, a feisty Italian counter-puncher, who has broken into the
top 50 with a bullet.
NO PRESSURE
Serena, who will meet Ukrainian 26th seed Elina Svitolina, paid
tribute to her seven-times grand slam-winning sister for setting up
the platform for her own success.
"She came in as a new face, a black woman that was shaking up the
world," she said. "She had all the pressure on her shoulders. I kind
of came in behind her.
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"There was no pressure on me at all... She had a lot of
confidence and she had so much class and still does throughout
everything.
"You can see that her personality is pretty much the same. She's
definitely grown but she's always been very mature and very regal."
Venus said her battles with health problems had not lessened her
desire for more titles after more than 20 years as a professional.
"Honestly, I think I understand the game a lot more," she said.
"Even when I'm not playing as well, I think I'm able tactically to
be more strategic than even, let's say, Venus of 2000.
"So that's one of the beauties of continuing to play as you get a
lot of the years under your belt."
(Reporting by Ian Ransom; Editing by Patrick Johnston)
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