Venus Williams used a strong serve and powerful groundstrokes to whip Aravane Rezai 6-1 6-2 in her opening match at the Amelia Island championship on Tuesday.
Williams needed just an hour to record the victory before saying she feels better than she has all year.
"Tonight was the most comfortable I've felt on the court of all the matches I've played this season," the American said. "I'm rounding into form at the right time with the claycourt season ahead."
Williams was near perfect on her first serve in the match. She won 14 of 18 points on her first serve in the opening set and was even better in the second, capturing all but two of 12 points.
The five-times grand slam title winner consistently frustrated Rezai by placing forehand shots down the line that the Frenchwoman could not reach.
"My service game was that strong in Memphis too," said Williams of the tournament she won in February.
"Yet last week at the Sony Ericsson [in Miami] I couldn't find my serve. My second serve was also very strong tonight. That definitely helped me hold serve," she said.
Williams never lost her serve and broke Rezai twice in both sets.
Meanwhile top-seeded Nadia Petrova needed just 78 minutes to beat Kaia Kanepi of Estonia 6-4, 6-0.
It was Petrova's first clay court match of the year but after struggling in the first set, the world's No. 7 ranked player breezed through the second set.
Kanepi only managed 13 points in the six games of the second set that took just 32 minutes to complete.
"The key was getting that first set under my belt and gaining some confidence," Petrova said. "I played with a little more freedom in that second set. I had to adjust to sliding on the court. It's quite difficult to judge the distance if you start sliding before you hit the ball."
Petrova had little problem with Kanepi's serve in the second set. She broke Kanepi three times, twice at love.
Petrova was one of six seeded players who played and won on Tuesday. No. 3-seeded Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia was a 6-1, 6-3 winner over Spain's Nuria Llagostera Vives and fifth-seeded Dinara Safina of Russia also won in straight sets, 6-4, 7-5 over Michaella Krajicek of the Netherlands.
Other seeded winners advancing were Katarina Srebotnik (No. 11) who beat Julia Vakulenko, Samantha Stosur (12) who was victorious over Virginia Ruano Pascual and Zheng Jie (15) who got by Mara Santangelo.
The Bausch & Lomb Championships is the first clay court event of the year on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour schedule. It is the third oldest US event on the tour, held for a 28th consecutive year at the Amelia Island Plantation located alongside the beaches of the Atlantic Ocean.
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