Venus Williams saved three match points before coming through a gripping contest against Kiki Bertens at the Miami Open.
The American eighth seed won 5-7 6-3 7-5 to take her place in round four, where she will meet defending champion Johanna Konta.
Williams, a three-time champion in Miami, let a 5-0 lead slip as Dutch 29th seed Bertens won seven games in a row to take the opening set.
The 37-year-old American trailed by a break midway through the second set but fought back to take it, and recovered from 4-1 down in a rollercoaster decider.
Bertens had two match points on serve and another in the following game, only to net a backhand, and Williams finally made her pay with an eighth break followed by a confident service game.
.@Venuseswilliams had an epic @MiamiOpen encounter with @kikibertens!
Catch the highlights ???????? pic.twitter.com/evFM116MSg
— WTA (@WTA) March 25, 2018
“It was a very interesting match, to say the least,” said Williams.
“I just tried to hang in there; it was really not that much fun for that to happen. But that’s tennis.”
Williams next faces Konta, the British No.1 who beat Belgian Elise Mertens 6-2 6-1 and looks to be finding some form.
Fourth seed Elina Svitolina saw off Daria Gavrilova 4-6 6-0 6-1 to set up a fourth-round meeting with another Australian, Ash Barty, who beat Perta Martic 6-4 6-3.
Sixth seed Jelena Ostapenko avoided being drawn into a final set against Brazil’s Beatriz Haddad Maia, the Latvian reeling off seven points in a row in the tie-break for a 6-2 7-6(2) victory.
> REPORT: Dimitrov beaten again, this time by Chardy in Miami
The French Open champion will face Petra Kvitova, who overcame Sofia Kenin in a night match to reach the last 16.
The two-time Wimbledon winner trailed Kenin 2-4 in the final set before posting a 3-6 6-2 6-4 win, overcoming 48 unforced errors with 14 aces and 35 winners.
“I have no idea (how I got through). It was a difficult match mentally, for me, playing a young player who I didn’t know. It’s always a bit tough,” she said.
“Those opponents are always playing well against me. I remember when I was young, I just played without the fear and just had nothing to lose.
“Definitely she’s a great mover. I just tried to a little bit play more rallies and get through it.”
Puerto Rico’s Olympic champion Monica Puig followed up her win over second seed Caroline Wozniacki with a 6-3 7-5 defeat of Greece’s Maria Sakkari.
14 August 2017
Maria Sharapova has opened up in her memoir Unstoppable, revealing her take on how Serena ... More
15 September 2016
The greatest champions, goes the old adage, are those who leave their sport better than th... More
27 August 2018
After Stefanos Tsitsipas became the youngest player to beat four top-10 players in a singl... More
22 September 2017
In the heat and humidity of the recent US Open series, there was a slow-mo nod to a long-r... More