MELBOURNE, Australia - There is a big difference between the Venus Williams of, say, the year 2000 and the Venus of 2015.The Venus of today says she might not be at the top of her game but she is more strategic, she understands the game better and she has learned to not be afraid.Thats one of the beauties of continuing to play as you get a lot of the years under your belt, said Venus, who at the age of 34 is one of the oldest players in the draw but enjoying what some have called a career renaissance.Williams prefers not to see it that way.Im just doing the best I can, she said with a laugh. I think as long as Im doing my best something good will come out of it.On Thursday, Williams advanced to the third round of the Australian Open, beating fellow American Lauren Davis, 6-2, 6-3. She now faces Camila Giorgi of Italy for a spot in the fourth round, an accomplishment she hasnt achieved at a major since Wimbledon 2011.When Williams played her first Grand Slams back in 1997 — or 18 years ago — her latest opponent, the 21-year-old Davis, was just a toddler. Williams went on to hold the No. 1 ranking, win seven Grand Slam singles titles and was also a runner-up seven times — losing to her younger sister, Serena, on six of those occasions.No. 1-ranked Serena, who also won her second-round match Thursday, is a favourite to win her 19th Grand Slam title.As recently as 2010, Venus made it all the way to the U.S. Open semifinals. Then health problems stalled her career.She finished 2011 outside the top 100, and announced she was suffering from an auto-immune condition called Sjogrens syndrome, which can cause joint pain and sap energy. She took seven months off from tennis, and by the end of 2012 had climbed to No. 24.She is now ranked 18th and won her 46th career title in Auckland earlier this year.Williams says her health problems have given her a new perspective on life.More than anything, Im appreciative of all the opportunities Ive had in my life, Williams said. Im appreciative for good health and just to be able to feel good every day.When things are out of your control, its easy to be afraid and fear can really hold you back, she added. So, I think you have to just conquer that fear. Thats, I think, something Ive learned as well, just not to be afraid.That perspective combined with her experience has also helped her tennis.Honestly, I think I understand the game a lot more. Even when Im not playing as well, I think Im able to tactically be more strategic than even, lets say, Venus of 2000. So I think there is a big difference, she said.Williams describes her state of mind as always pretty happy, an assessment that Serena agrees with and says her big sister is in a good place both on and off the court.Serena says her sister has always coped well with pressure and in the early years, there was lots of it.She came in as a new face, a black woman that was shaking up the world. She had all this pressure on her shoulders, said Serena, who faces No. 26 Elina Svitolina of Ukraine in the fourth round. I came in behind her. You know, just snuck in there. There was no pressure on me at all. She dealt with it so amazing.She is really motivating. She is playing so well, Serena said. For our whole careers, weve kind of motivated each other. We hopefully continue to do that. Brett Butler Jersey . Got Jacks? Pulling off a comeback for the ages, feisty Stephen F. Austin became the latest No. 12 seed to pull off an upset, tying the game on Desmond Haymons did-that-just-happen four-point play with 3. Los Angeles Dodgers Gear . Last year, Matt Kuchar closed with a 4-under 68 to beat Kevin Chappell by two strokes for his second win of the 2013 season and sixth of his career. https://www.cheapdodgersonline.com/. However, the 38-year-old is in no hurry to sign with another team. "Im not in a rush. This will be my last contract, so I want to do it right," said Burris on Thursday. Dodgers Jerseys 2019 . Louis Cardinals, the team will be celebrating the 25th anniversary of the opening of the SkyDome. Jays legends Jimmy Key and Ernie Whitt, members of playoff and World Series-winning teams of the past, will be on hand for the festivities to look back at what was the beginning of the Jays halcyon years. Keibert Ruiz Dodgers Jersey . But that changed when he committed a five-minute major penalty and helped pave the way for a comeback by the Philadelphia Flyers. Vincent Lecavalier scored at 2:45 of overtime and the Flyers rallied from a two-goal deficit for a 5-4 victory on Sunday. ORLANDO, Fla. -- The Orlando Magic finally are showing the patience in critical moments that coach Jacque Vaughn has been waiting for all season. The Magic fought off repeated challenges from the Brooklyn Nets, many of them in the final two minutes, to claim a 115-111 victory over a playoff-bound team. It was the second win a row where Orlando executed better than its opponent in the final minutes of a close game. "Were continuing to learn at the end of games and not panic," Vaughn said. "I want these guys to enjoy what they do for a living. We come to work, we get better. Thats what we do." Arron Afflalo scored five of his 25 points in the final two minutes. Jameer Nelson was 4 of 4 from the free throw line in the final 13 seconds and Kyle OQuinn had a key assist and block as Orlando made every play it needed to stop the Nets. Reserve ETwaun Moore made all six shots, five of them 3-pointers, to tie his season high of 17 points. Tobias Harris added 16 points and eight rebounds. "We are better in close games and it shows the maturity and confidence were gaining as a group," Afflalo said. "The Nets are one of the hottest teams since the new year and we got good performances from a lot of our role players." The Magic needed a lot at both ends in the second half to stop a hot-shooting Brooklyn team that was making shots from everywhere. Joe Johnson led the Nets with 31 points, but had a potential game-tying 3-pointer blocked by Quinn with 10 seconds left in the game. Mirza Teletovic, who was 1 for 10 from the field in the first half, hit four 3-pointers in the third period to start the Nets on their way to 23 of 37 (62.2 per cent) shooting in the second half. Teletovic finished with 17 points and nine rebounds. Mason Plumlee had 16 points and Marcus Thornton 13 off the bench for Brooklyn, which played without injured starters Paul Pierce and Shaun Livingston. "At the end, we executed offensively, but defensively, we didnt," Nets coach Jason Kidd said. "We pretty much had five guards out there, playing Joe at the centre. We probably put him in a bad way, trying to make a 3 on a 7-footer (OQuinn).dddddddddddd. As coaches we can get better. This was a learning experience." The Magic led 107-101 after Afflalos 3-pointer with 1:58 left in the game, but Brooklyn cut it to 110-109 on a layup by Johnson with 14 seconds remaining. Nelson made two free throws for Orlando, then OQuinn cleanly blocked a 3-pointer by Johnson with 10 seconds left. Nelson and Afflalo combined for three free throws to put the game away from there. The Magic led by as many as 16 in the first half and carried an 83-78 lead into the fourth quarter, but had to withstand some sharpshooting by Brooklyn in the second half. The Nets hit 23 of 37 shots (62 per cent) in the final two quarters and got seven 3-pointers and four three-point plays, but it still wasnt enough to overcome Orlando. The Magic kept pace with a hot-shooting second half of their own, making nearly 57 per cent, and got key shots from Afflalo, Moore and Nelson every time Brooklyn got close. The Nets hit six 3-pointers, four by Teletovic, in the third quarter and Deron Williams and Kevin Garnett added three-point plays to help Brooklyn rally from a 55-43 halftime deficit. The Nets tied the game at 78 on a dunk by Plumlee with 35 seconds left, but Victor Oladipo countered with a perimeter jumper and Moore hit his fifth straight 3-pointer at the buzzer to give the Magic an 83-78 lead going into the final period. The teams traded baskets for the first 15 minutes of the game before Moore knocked down four 3-pointers to ignite a 20-3 run that helped Orlando to a 55-43 halftime lead. The reserve guard hit three straight 3s from nearly the exact same spot on the left side of the basket, then crossed to a similar spot on the right side and drained another. In between, he added a fast-break layup for 11 straight points, before being taken out of the game. NOTES: Magic C Nikola Vucevic missed his third straight game with a sore Achilles tendon. The Magic are 3-18 in the 21 games hes missed this season. . The Nets said Pierce had a sore hip and Livingston a sore toe. . The Magic outscored the Nets 22-6 on fast-break points. ' ' '