Venus Williams ready to come out on top against sister Serena

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Serena Williams has acquitted herself well on her comeback to competitive tennis but the American legend may have no answers when she takes on older sister Venus in the third round of the BNP Paribas Open.

Serena has beaten Zarina Diyas and Kiki Bertens at Indian Wells but a meeting with Venus represents a steep jump in class and this could prove a step too far for the new mum at this stage in her comeback.

While dispatching Diyas was a relatively straightforward task, a straight-sets victory over Bertens didn't tell the whole story and the Dutchwoman, ranked 29th due mostly to her exploits on clay, put up stern resistance.

Bertens had an opportunity to serve for the first set but Serena broke back before taking the tiebreak 7-5. The 23-time grand slam champion was frequently tested throughout and her opponent broke her serve on four occasions.

She will have to improve her delivery against Venus, who received a bye into the second round where she posted a comfortable victory over Sorana Cirstea.

While Serena has largely held sway in head-to-heads between the siblings in recent years, she's definitely still working her way back to her best and is worth taking on.

The younger sister is favourite but all the early money has been for Venus - still capable of mixing it with the best as she's proved in Grand Slams over the last 15 months - and there could still be some juice in the price.

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