Venus Williams came from behind to get the better of sister Serena in a one-off clash at the World Tennis Championship in Abu Dhabi on Thursday.

The exhibition was the headline act on Thursday following two quarter-final clashes in the men's draw.

And it was Venus who claimed victory in front of a packed stadium, beating her sibling 4-6 6-3 10-8 after the match went to a super tie-break.

An early break in the first set looked like putting 23-time grand slam winner Serena on course for the lead and, although Venus got the set back on serve at 5-4, Serena converted her third break point in the next to move in front.

Serena was uncharacteristically below par in the second and dropped three service games as Venus pulled level - the set sealed with a powerful forehand smash.

Venus dropped her opening serve of the super tie-break but recovered to clinch the match after Serena sent a shot wide into the right-hand channel at set point for her sister.

"This is our first match back, so what we wanted was to give it our all," said Venus on court afterwards.

"Serena said I was playing well...I think we can only go up from here and that's our plan."

Serena added: "It was really fun and so good to see everyone come out to support myself and Venus. It was really fun out here."