Venus Williams, in only her second WTA match after a long illness layoff, upset world No. 3 Petra Kvitova on Friday to reach the third round of the Sony Ericsson Open.
World No. 2 Rafael Nadal cruised in his opener and women’s top seed Victoria Azarenka stretched her win streak to 24 matches at the US$9.6 million event, but seven-time Grand Slam singles champion Williams stole the show.
In women’s doubles action, Taiwan’s Chan Yung-jan and partner Marina Erakovic of New Zealand were defeated 6-3, 6-4 by Russian duo Svetlana Kuznetsova and Vera Zvonareva.
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“It’s definitely a big step forward,” Williams said after her 6-4, 4-6, 6-0 win. “To win these matches, definitely a lot of it is mental, to get out there and believe you’re going to win and execute. How I’m going to do, I never really know, so it’s great to have a win like this.”
Williams withdrew from last year’s US Open with the auto-immune disorder Sjogren’s syndrome, an illness that saps energy and causes joint pain. Her first tournament match since then was a first-round triumph on Wednesday.
That put Williams up against Czech third seed Kvitova, who fought to reach a third set only to be overpowered by Williams after 2 hours, 18 minutes.
Kvitova was impressed with how well Williams played after seven months away in booking a third-round match-up with Canadian wild-card Aleksandra Wozniak, who defeated Romania’s Monica Niculescu 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.
“She played very well after a long time. She looks very ready, very fit,” Kvitova said.
Spanish second seed Nadal began his quest for a first-ever Miami title by ousting Colombia’s Santiago Giraldo 6-2, 6-0 in 69 minutes, saying it was not as easy a victory as he made it seem.
“I played a very solid match with no mistakes,” Nadal said. “No match is easy, even if the score was very easy because 6-2, 6-0 is a big difference in the score, but not in the tennis. You have to fight every point.”
Nadal next has a third-round date with Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic, who ousted Germany’s Tommy Haas 7-6 (7/4), 6-1.
Women’s world No. 1 Azarenka eliminated Dutch player Michaella Krajicek 6-3, 7-5. Azarenka broke as Krajicek served for the second set, then held and broke again to close out the match after 1 hour, 42 minutes.
Azarenka stretched her season-long win streak to 24 matches. She has the best start to a WTA season since Martina Hingis won 37 in a row in 1997.
Top seed Azarenka, who already has four titles this year, will next face British wild-card Heather Watson, who defeated Czech Lucie Safarova 6-2, 6-1. Azarenka has won both their prior meetings.
World No. 4 Andy Murray eased into the third round by dispatching Colombia’s Alejandro Falla 6-2, 6-3, avoiding a repeat of an embarrassing early ouster in Indian Wells.
Murray, 24, will next face big-serving Canadian 26th seed Milos Raonic, who advanced over France’s Arnaud Clement 7-6 (9/7), 6-2.
Russia’s Alisa Kleybanova, a former top-20 player who has missed the past 10 months battling Hodgkin’s lymphoma, was beaten in her second-round match by compatriot Maria Kirilenko 7-6 (7/1), 6-3.
Additional reporting by Staff writer
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