Third seed Venus Williams dug deep to beat Israel's Shahar Pe'er 7-6 6-3 in the fourth round of the US Open on Sunday.

Williams, who won the title at Flushing Meadows in 2000 and 2001, out-hit the world No.19 from Israel in the crucial points to take the straight-sets victory and set up a quarter-final clash with French Open champion Francesca Schiavone.

In a scrappy first set, neither player looked solid on serve.

Surprisingly, it was Williams who dropped serve first, Peer launching several forehand winners to take a 3-2 lead.

Williams broke back immediately to level at 3-3 only to again drop her service game as her first-serve percentage dipped to 40 percent.

The 16th seed failed to take advantage of her lead over Williams as she too struggled on serve. Williams broke back to level the set at 4-4, with both players appearing to lift their intensity.

Williams had the chance to win the set as she found herself up 0-40 on Peer's serve at 6-5, but the Israeli fought back to deuce before eventually forcing the set into a tie-breaker.

But the nine-time grand slam champion stepped up her game, hitting winner after winner to take the tie-breaker 7-3.

The loss of the first set put a dent in Peer's confidence and Williams capitalised to race to a 5-2 lead in the second.

The Israeli managed to break back to keep herself in the match, but couldn't hold her own serve in the next game to finally concede defeat.