Venus Williams has continued her resurgence with a three-set triumph over third seed Samantha Stosur in the quarter-finals of the Cincinnati Open.

In an unpredictable opening set which saw both players struggle to hold serve, the American eventually came out on top 6-2.

Stosur then broke Williams to give herself the opportunity to serve for the second set, but she was broken back instantly as it went to a tie-break.

However, the Australian's inability to close out the set mattered little as she stormed the tie-break 7-2.

Having broken Stosur twice in the third, Williams then failed to take her first chance to serve out the match but took her second to win 6-4.