Tennis News

A stroll for Venus

TOKYO: Wimbledon champion Venus Williams overpowered fellow American Jill Craybas 6-3, 6-1 to book her spot in the Japan Open second round yesterday.

The former world number one, winner of the Korea Open title at the weekend, recovered from an indifferent start on the Tokyo hardcourts, wrapping up the match in just 59 minutes.

“I love to play faster and harder and be aggressive,” Williams told reporters after a successful Japan Open debut.

So easy: Venus Williams smiles after beating Jill Craybas 6-3, 6-1 in the first round of the Japan Open yesterday. – Reuters

“It's a great surface for me. It excites me.”

The 27-year-old finished off Craybas with a ferocious backhand down the line for her 16th victory in 18 matches since claiming her sixth grand slam title at Wimbledon.

Williams immediately expressed confidence that she would qualify for next month's season-ending WTA Tour Championships, for which only the year's top eight players are eligible.

“That was a definitely a big reason I came here,” said Williams, a late entry for the Japan Open after scrapping plans to go on holiday in Thailand.

“I'm number eight and winning last week has made the gap bigger. The person behind me (Slovakia's Daniela Hantuchova) is going to have to play really well to pass me.”

Russia's Maria Kirilenko, beaten by Williams in Sunday's final in Seoul, fell at the first hurdle in Tokyo, the third seed losing 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 to Frenchwoman Camille Pin.

Fourth seed Ai Sugiyama was another early loser, upset 6-3, 6-3 by Chinese qualifier Yuan Meng to spoil the Japanese player's 14th appearance in her home event.

The top seeds in the men's draw, blighted by the late withdrawal of world number one Roger Federer, received first-round byes.

Ninth seed Lee Hyung-taik of South Korea was the first to advance with an easy 6-1, 6-4 victory over Taiwan's Lu Yen-hsun.

Spain's Ivan Navarro beat 13th-seeded American Sam Querrey 7-5, 6-3 to join Hyungt-taik in the last 16, while former Australian Open finalist Rainer Schuettler scraped past Japan's Go Soeda 6-3, 1-6, 6-2 in a first-round match.

Schuettler's fellow German Benjamin Becker, arguably best known for ushering Andre Agassi into retirement at last year's US Open, beat local player Takao Suzuki 7-5, 3-6, 6-4.

n STUTTGART: Russia's Dinara Safina overcame a ragged start to beat Katarina Srebotnik of Slovenia 5-7, 6-2, 6-4 and reach the second round of the Stuttgart Grand Prix on Monday.

Srebotnik edged a first set that featured five breaks of serve before Safina got her act together.

The Russian sped into a 4-0 lead and after levelling the match grabbed an early break in the decider to set up victory in two hours three minutes.

Safina, the world number 17, will go on to play world number one Justine Henin in the second round of the US$650,000 indoor hard-court tournament.

In the day's only other match in the main draw Tatiana Golovin overwhelmed German wildcard Martina Mueller 6-1, 6-1. – Reuters