of Switzerland defeated Marina Erakovic of New Zealand

CHARLESTON, S.C. -- Venus Williams advanced in the tournament where her top-ranked sister could not, battling from behind at the Family Circle Cup to defeat Chanelle Scheepers 7-5, 7-5 on Wednesday. It was another long day for Williams, ranked No. 28 in the world, who needed 1 hour, 50 minutes to finish the straight-set victory over the South African. Williams fell behind 3-1 in the first set and trailed 4-1 in the second. "She was playing so well, but the good thing is that when I get behind, I give even more effort and get even more focused. And Ive been playing well from behind lately, which is something you really have to be able to do to win big matches," Williams said. The seven-time Grand Slam champion has battled injuries and Sjogrens syndrome, a fatigue-causing autoimmune disease, during the past two years. She was on the green clay in Charleston for 2 hours, 15 minutes on Tuesday in a three-set victory and said she has been ill this week. "Im still dealing with the bug, but my goal is just to hang in there until it hopefully goes away and then I can just continue to play my way into the tournament and play stronger," she said. "But its definitely a challenge." On Tuesday night her sister, top-ranked Serena Williams, was stunned 6-4, 6-4 by Jana Cepelova of Slovakia, ranked No. 78 in the world, in the second round. Serena Williams said later she was tired and needed time off to regroup. "I definitely can see where she is tired and her body is taxed," Venus Williams said of her sister. "She gave an amazing effort yesterday, and shes going to get some well-deserved time off from winning." Venus Williams, who won the Family Circle a decade ago, now faces No. 20 Eugenie Bouchard. No. 8 Jelena Jankovic, the tournaments No. 2 seed, later scored a 6-0, 6-3 victory over American Lauren Davis. Jankovic won the Family Circle back in 2007 and was runner-up last year to Serena Williams. Earlier Wednesday, American Sloane Stephens was upset 6-4, 6-4 by 19-year-old Elina Svitolina of the Ukraine, who has a career-high No. 35 ranking. It was her fourth career victory over a top 20 player, the third coming last week at the Sony Open. "She played pretty well, and its just unfortunate that I lost, but I mean, you can just learn from the mistakes and things like that and build on it," Stephens said. "I started to believe more in myself that I can compete with players like this, top level, top 20 and top 10," said Svitolina, who is making her first appearance on the green clay in Charleston. "I think this is the key. That I believe more in myself and I play more solid from the baseline and trying to go forward to finish the point earlier." In other matches, Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia defeated American qualifier Grace Min 6-2, 6-3 while Elena Vesnina of Russia stopped Petra Cetkovska of the Czech Republic, 3-6, 6-2, 6-4. Italian Sara Errani, ranked No. 11 in the world and seeded third, advanced as well. She won the first set 6-3 when qualifier Kiki Bertens of the Netherlands retired. Fourth-seeded Sabine Lisicki of Germany was extended to three sets before defeating American Vania King 7-5, 4-6, 6-3. Andrea Petkovic of Germany, the 14th seed, defeated Lourdes Dominguez Lino of Spain 6-0, 6-0 while Shuai Peng of China eliminated 15th-seeded Madison Keys of the United States 6-1, 6-7 (3) and 7-6 (4). Qualifier Belinda Bencic of Switzerland defeated Marina Erakovic of New Zealand 6-2, 6-1. Houston Texans Jerseys Outlet . With the Nets winning streak in jeopardy, Williams scored 23 points, 11 in the final six minutes, to lead Brooklyn to a 104-99 victory over the Charlotte Bobcats on Wednesday night. Cheap Houston Texans Gear . Andrew Luck couldnt believe his ears. Colts fans couldnt believe the scoreboard, and the Kansas City Chiefs couldnt believe their incredibly bad luck. http://www.cheaptexans.com/ . The injury could land Machado on the 15-day disabled list, but its not as serious as it looked on Monday night, when the third baseman crumpled in a heap at the plate after taking an awkward swing in a game against the New York Yankees. Stitched Houston Texans Jerseys . Appearing on TSN 690 Monday afternoon, Mike Babcock said he had conversations with both P.K. Subban and Carey Price about those on-ice traits during Hockey Canadas summer orientation camp. Mike Babcock: McGill experience, P. Custom Texans Jerseys . And former Maple Leafs coach Ron Wilson certainly knows his pain. "Its pretty hard to coach there without allowing some of these things to kind of affect you," Wilson told TSN Hockey Insider Pierre LeBrun in his ESPN.St. Louis, MO (SportsNetwork.com) - Alexander Steen had two goals and one assist in his return, helping the St. Louis Blues post a 6-3 win over the New York Islanders at Scottrade Center on Thursday. Steen, who missed the previous two games with a lower-body injury, provided an immediate spark and his second tally ignited four-goal third period that carried the Blues to their third straight win. I thought (Steen) was real good. I thought that line was real good. Set the tempo early in the game. Set the tempo in the third period, said St. Louis head coach Ken Hitchcock. T.J. Oshie had a goal with two assists and Jake Allen made 25 saves. John Tavares and Mikhail Grabovski scored in the second period for the Islanders, who have lost three games in a row. Former Blue Jaroslav Halak allowed five goals on 32 shots. We didnt really grasp it. said Tavares. Sometimes we just have to make the plays a little quicker. Steen gave the Blues a 3-2 lead at 4:32 of the third when he came in as a trailer on a rush fired a rebound past Halak. Oshie scored from the bottom of the left circle off Patrik Berglunds pass from behind the net with 4:13 remaining. Kyle Okposo lit the lamp for the Islanders 28 seconds after Paul Stastnys power-play goal made it 5-2 with 2:12 remaining, but an emppty-net goal by Jaden Schwartz with 1:04 left sealed St.dddddddddddd. Louis fifth straight win in the series. Steen scored a power-play goal 5:58 into the game. He beat Halak on a blast from the point after nice puck movement gave him plenty of room to wind up. Barret Jackman gave St. Louis 2-0 with 5:42 remaining in the first period when he fired a slap shot off a pass from Steen past Halaks glove. The Islanders battled back with two late goals in the middle stanza. Tavares moved to the middle following a faceoff win and fired a wrist shot through Allens five-hole with 3:57 remaining. Grabovski then beat the Blues to a loose puck after another faceoff and scored on a wrist shot from the slot with 5.3 seconds left. Game Notes Stastny has four goals in the last three games ... The Islanders have been outscored 20-6 during a four-game road skid in the series ... St. Louis improved to 10-1-1 in its last 12 home games ... Oshie has four goals and eight assists during a six-game point streak against the Islanders ... Blues defenseman Jay Bouwmeester (groin) was activated from injured reserve after missing eight games. Defenseman Carl Gunnarsson (concussion) was placed on IR to create room on the active roster for Bouwmeester. 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