Venus has easy start in HK
World No. 5 Venus Williams eased through her opening match in the Hong Kong Open yesterday with a 6-2, 6-2 win against Risa Ozaki.
The 37-year-old took just 74 minutes to see off the Japanese in hot and humid conditions in Victoria Park.
Williams, who faces another Japanese, Naomi Osaka, in today's second round, has enjoyed a great season, reaching two Grand Slam finals to qualify for the WTA Tour Finals in Singapore from Oct 22 to 29.
World No. 19 Elena Vesnina of Russia became the first seed to crash out of the Hong Kong Open when she lost 6-3, 6-4 to Thailand's world No. 130 Luksika Kumkhum.
Meanwhile, Sam Stosur, Agnieszka Radwanska, Daria Gavrilova and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova moved to the second round. - AFP
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