Venus Williams has withdrawn her name from the Sony Open. Venus had to play against her countrywoman Sloane Stephens in the third round match, but, because of an injury in her lower back, the 32 years old American player decided not to participate in the match.

Venus had defeated Kimiko Date-Krumm of Japan in the second round of this tournament. She had to battle hard for that victory though. She had won the match by 7-6 (7/3), 3-6, 6-4.

On Saturday, Venus announced that she was struggling with back pain and she wouldn’t take part in the third round match.

Talking to the reporters, Venus said, “Yesterday, I had a bit of pain in my back, but, it was not that bad. But, today, it worsened. During the warm up, I couldn’t move fluently. There was no point going into the match in that condition. So, I decided to withdraw.”

“It doesn’t feel good at all. This is a big event and you want to perform well in such kind of events.”

Venus has won Sony Open three times in her career and she was eyeing for her fourth title at Miami.

Venus said that she is expecting to get fit before the Family Circle Cup that will be played in April at Charleston, South Carolina.

Venus said, “I don’t think it will take me too many days to get rid of this injury. I am hoping to be alright for the Family Circle Cup.”

Sloane Stephens got a walkover in the third round because of Venus’ withdrawal. In the next round, Stephens will face the Polish player Agnieszka Radwanska who reached the fourth round by beating Magdalena Rybarikova of Slovakia in a tight match.

Radwanska was the winner of Sony Open last year.

Venus Williams has been defeated by Maria Sharapova in the third round of the Australian Open 2013 yesterday. Sharapova won the match in the straight sets by 6-1, 6-3. With this victory, Sharapova made her way into the final 32.  She took just 80 minutes to win the match.

A tight contest was expected between these two high quality players, but, that didn’t happen. The match turned out to be a one sided one.

It was a clinical effort by the Russian superstar. She hit a total of 17 winners in the match.

Sharapova got 13 breakpoints in the match and she converted five of them. Her forehand shots were brilliant. It was a treat to watch her play yesterday.

On the other hand, Venus was far from her best. She made mistakes throughout the match. The American superstar committed a total of 26 unforced errors in the match.

Sharapova started the match in a blistering manner. In the first set, she won the first four games consecutively to take a lead of 4-0. Both the players held their service in the next two games and at the end of the sixth game; the scorecard was showing 5-1 in Sharapova’s favour. Sharapova again got a break chance in the 7^th game and she didn’t waste that. She broke Venus’ service for the third time in the set and sealed the first set by 6-1.

Sharapova was equally aggressive in the second set as well. She broke Venus’ service in the second game and won the first three games in a row. The next two games went with the serve.

Venus’ service was broken in the sixth game again and at the end of the sixth game, Sharapova was ahead by 5-1. Venus made a bit of a comeback by breaking Sharapova’s service in the 7^th game and then, serving out the eighth game. But, that was too little, too late. Sharapova wrapped up the match with a serve hold in the ninth game.

In the next round, Sharapova will take on Kirsten Flipkens of Belgium.

Venus Williams performed brilliantly for USA in the Hopman Cup encounter against South Africa. Because of Venus’ effort, USA defeated South Africa by 2-1.

The USA team didn’t have a very good start. In the first singles match, Kevin Anderson defeated John Isner in a close game by 7-6(0), 7-6(5). But, Venus brought her team back into the match by winning the next singles match. She defeated Chanelle Scheepers by 4-6, 6-2, 6-3. Then, in the final mixed doubles match, Williams and Isner defeated the South African pair easily in the straight sets by 6-3, 6-2 and won the encounter.

In the singles match against Scheepers, Venus was looking rusty in the first set. The first eight games of the first set went with the serve and the scores were levelled at 4-4 at that stage. Scheepers got a breakthrough in the ninth game and then, served out the next game to seal the first set.

Venus lifted the standard of her game in the second set. She broke Scheepers’ service twice and won the second set easily by 6-2. In the third and final set, Venus played even more aggressively. She won the first four games on the trot to take a lead of 4-0. After that, it was not easy for Scheepers to make a comeback. She got a breakthrough towards the end of the set, but, that was not enough. Venus eventually won the set by 6-3 and finished off the match.

In the post match interview, Venus said, “I was playing after a while, so, initially, I was not able to hit the ball fluently. But, slowly, I got back into rhythm.”

“I was under a bit of pressure as we had lost the first match and after losing the first set, I got even more nervous. But, fortunately, I managed to hold my nerves in the next two sets.”