Venus Williams gets past Sorana Cirstea

The No.3 seed plays unseeded Roberta Vinci, who beat No. 30 Anabel Medina Garrigues 6-4, 7-6(5) in the next round. With sister Serena Williams sidelined by a knee injury, Venus may be the woman to beat in a tournament she considers her hometown event.

“I haven't had a win here in a while, and I'll try to make that happen this year,” Venus said.

Both sets followed similar patterns, with Williams losing serve early and finishing strong. She swept the final four games of the first set and the last three games of the match.

“I haven't played in a few weeks,” she said. “It just took a few games to kind of get some rhythm going and kind of really getting energy flowing. Toward the end my game got better and better, and I was happy .”

Ivanovic advances

Former No.1 Ana Ivanovic beat Pauline Parmentier 6-4, 6-3 and said her career was moving in the right direction again. With the victory, she broke a four-match losing streak, the longest of her career.

“I'm feeling really good at the moment,” Ivanovic said. “What doesn't kill you makes you stronger, so I believe in that.”

At 58 this week, Ivanovic finds herself out of the top-50 for the first time in five years.

She recently hired Steffi Graf's old coach, Heinz Gunthardt, and said she senses a turnaround in the past month.

“With Heinz, I can see the improvements actually almost on daily basis. It's very encouraging,” Ivanovic said. “Now I'm surrounded with really good people. I'm very excited and motivated to play again and to get to the top”

Meanwhile, top-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova struggled in her opening match to beat China's Peng Shuai 6-2, 3-6, 6-4.

On the men's side, lucky loser Nicolas Lapentti beat Potito Starace 7-5, 6-3 and will face No.1 Roger Federer in the second round.

The results: Women (second round): Svetlana Kuznetsova bt Peng Shuai 6-2, 3-6, 6-4; Venus Williams bt Sorana Cirstea 6-4, 6-3; Agnieszka Radwanska bt Ekaterina Makarova 7-5, 6-0; Timea Bacsinszky bt Li Na 6-4, 4-6, 7-6(3); Andrea Petkovic bt Flavia Pennetta 6-3, 3-6, 6-0; Yanina Wickmayer bt Elena Baltacha 6-1, 6-3; Marion Bartoli bt Magdalena Rybarikova 6-2, 6-4; Nadia Petrova bt Kimiko Date Krumm 6-3, 7-6(7); Petra Martic bt Aravane Rezai 7-5, 5-7, 6-4; Daniela Hantuchova bt Patty Schnyder 6-1, 6-4; Gisela Dulko bt Alona Bondarenko 7-5, 6-2; Yaroslava Shvedova bt Sabine Lisicki 6-3, 0-1 retired.; Ana Ivanovic bt Pauline Parmentier 6-4, 6-3; Agnes Szavay bt Alicia Molik 6-0. 6-0; Roberta Vinci bt Anabel Medina Garrigues 6-4, 7-6(5); Polona Hercog bt Aleksandra Wozniak 7-6(5), 6-3.

Men (first round): Nicolas Lapentti bt Potito Starace 7-5, 6-3; Mardy Fish bt Leo Mayer 7-6(4), 6-4; Heitor Zeballos bt Andreas Seppi 7-6(4), 6-2; Juan-Ignacio Chela bt Paolo Lorenzi 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(3); Philipp Petzschner bt Ryan Sweeting 6-3, 6-1; Marcus Ilhan bt Pablo Cuevas 6-2, 6-2; Santiago Giraldo bt Marcos Daniel 6-3, 6-2; Alejandro Falla bt Victor Hanescu 7-6(4), 3-6, 6-4; Dudi Sela bt Evgeny Korolev 6-3, 6-3; Thiemo de Bakker bt Rajeev Ram 6-4, 7-5; Michael Berrer bt Lukas Lacko 7-5, 4-6, 6-3; Yen-Hsun Lu bt Fabio Fognini 6-7(5), 6-2, 6-4; Florent Serra bt Nicolas Massu 6-4, 6-4; Peter Luczak bt Oscar Hernandez 6-3, 7-6(4); Kevin Anderson bt Ricardo Mello 6-3, 6-1; Stephane Robert bt Andreas Beck 7-5, 6-4 . — Agencies