PARIS – Third seed Venus Williams found herself on the brink of defeat before rediscovering her touch to beat Czech Lucie Safarova 6-7 6-2 7-5 and reach the third round of the French Open on Thursday.

The American, who saved a match point in the 10th game of the decider, will next face Hungary's Agnes Szavay, seeded 29th.

The match was interrupted by dusk at the end of the first set on Wednesday and upon resumption, seven-times grand slam winner Williams bombarded her opponent with a series of winners to level the contest on Suzanne Lenglen Court.

After saving a match point with a forehand winner, Venus broke in the 11th game with a service return winner and followed up on serve to wrap up the win on her first opportunity after two hours 30 minutes.