Venus Williams: the first woman to reach the last 16 of French Open

Photo: Venus Williams returns the ball to Switzerland's Patty Schnyder during their first round match of the French Open tennis tournament at the Roland Garros stadium in Paris on May 23, 2010.

Second seed Venus Williams was the first woman to reach the last 16 of French Open following the 6-3, 6-4 defeat of Slovakian 26th seed Dominika Cibulkova in the third round. The American will face either rising French star Aravane Rezai (15th seed) or Russian 19th seed Nadia Petrova for a quarter final berth, after their third round match was suspended because of fading light at 7-7 in the last set.

Venus Williams has beaten Patty Schnyder 6-3, 6-3 in the first round and Arantxa Parra Santonja 6-2, 6-4 in the second. It is the first time since 2006 that she is past the third round at the French Open. She is joined by third seed Dane Caroline Wozniacki and 14th seed Italian Flavia Pennetta contesting for the fourth round.

Venus Williams of USA returns the ball

France Tennis French Open, originally uploaded by LI Phil.

Venus Williams of USA returns the ball to Patty Schnyder of Switzerland during their first round match of the French Open tennis tournament at the Roland Garros stadium in Paris on Sunday, May 23, 2010.

Venus Williams at the French Open in Paris

venus-williams, originally uploaded by michaelk2030.

Venus Williams has been causing a stir at the French Open Tennis Tournament in Paris by wearing a revealing lacy black corset which rather suits down the road at the Moulin Rouge cabaret, some news reports say.