October 04, 2007	Thursday	Ramazan 21, 1428

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

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.

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.

Venus 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.

Russia’s Maria Kirilenko, beaten by Venus 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.

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

Tuesday’s results (x denotes seeding):

Men’s singles (first round): Justin Gimelstob (US) bt Lukasz Kubot (POL) 6-4, 7-5; Vincent Spadea (US) bt Amer Delic (US) 6-3, 6-1; Boris Pashanski (SRB) bt Jean-Claude Scherrer (SUI) 7-6 (7/5), 1-6, 7-5; Marin Cilic (CRO) bt Jun Woong-Sun (KOR) 6-2, 6-2; Luka Gregorc (SLO) bt Takahiro Terachi (JPN) 6-4, 6-4; Jiri Vanek (CZE) bt Satoshi Iwabuchi (JPN) 6-4, 6-4; Rainer Schuettler (GER) bt Go Soeda (JPN) 6-3, 1-6, 6-2; Menjamin Becker (GER) bt Takao Suzuki (JPN) 7-5, 3-6, 6-4; Dudi Sela (ISR) bt Simon Stadler (GER) 6-4, 7-5.

Second round: Lee Hyung-Taik (KOR x9) bt Lu Yen-hsun (TPE) 6-1, 6-4; Ivan Navarro (ESP) bt Sam Querrey (US x13) 7-5, 6-3.

Women’s singles (first round): Yuan Meng (CHN) bt Ai Sugiyama (JPN x4) 6-3, 6-3; Jelena Kostanic Tosic (CRO) bt Lourdes Dominguez Lino (ESP) 6-4, 6-4; Flavia Pennetta (ITA x8) bt Ahsha Rolle (US) 7-5, 6-1; Venus Williams (US x1) bt Jill Craybas (US) 6-3, 6-1; Vania King (US) bt Edina Gallovits (ROM) 6-2, 5-7, 7-5; Camille Pin (FRA) bt Maria Kirilenko (RUS x3) 6-3, 4-6, 6-3; Abigail Spears (US) bt Tomoko Yonemura (JPN) 6-4, 6-1; Alicia Molik (AUS) bt Akiko Morigami (JPN x6) 6-1, 6-2; Aleksandra Wozniak (CAN) bt Youlia Fedossova (FRA) 7-5, 6-7 (7/9), 6-1; Virginie Razzano (FRA x5) bt Tamarine Tanasugarn (THA) 6-3, 6-1; Elena Baltacha (GBR) bt Yan Zi (CHN) 2-6, 6-2, 6-4.

MAURESMO BEATEN, PETROVA ADVANCES

STUTTGART: Serena Williams blasted her way into the second round of Stuttgart’s WTA tournament while France’s Amelie Mauresmo became the first big-name casualty on Tuesday.

Serena opened her campaign with a rapid-fire 6-0, 6-0 win over the Czech Republic’s Zuzana Ondraskova, the first lucky loser from the main draw after Serena’s original opponent Elena Bobina withdrew with an ankle injury.

The 27-year-old right-hander, ranked 140th in the world, was totally outclassed by sixth-seed Serena’s power game and was dumped out in just 48 relentless minutes.

Tuesday’s results:

First round: Agnieszka Radwanska (POL) bt Marion Bartoli (FRA) 0-6, 6-2, 6-1; Nadia Petrova (RUS x7) bt Tatjana Malek (GER) 2-6, 6-1, 6-1; Shahar Peer (ISR) bt Francesca Schiavone (ITA) 6-1, 7-6 (8/6); Elena Dementieva (RUS) bt Amelie Mauresmo (FRA x6) 6-2, 7-5; Serena Williams (US x8) bt Zuzana Ondraskova (CZE) 6-0, 6-0; Julia Vakulenko (UKR) bt Julia Goerges (GER) 6-4, 6-4.

MURRAY IN SECOND ROUND

METZ (France): Briton Andy Murray survived a lapse in concentration to reach the second round of the Metz Open with a 6-4, 1-6, 6-2 victory over Serbia’s Janko Tipsarevic on Tuesday.

The third-seeded Scot next plays either France’s Michael Llodra or Austrian Werner Eschauer for a quarter-final spot.

Tuesday’s results:

Andreas Seppi (ITA) bt Arnaud Clement (FRA) 6-2, 6-4; 3-Andy Murray (UK x3) bt Janko Tipsarevic (SRB) 6-4, 1-6, 6-2; Stefan Koubek (AUT) bt Gilles Simon (FRA x6) 6-2, 6-1; Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA) bt Stanislas Wawrinka (SWI) 6-7(6), 6-4, 6-4; Julien Benneteau (FRA) bt Paul-Henri Mathieu (FRA x4) 6-4, 6-1; Juergen Melzer (AUT) bt David Guez (FRA) 7-5, 6-7(2), 6-2; Evgeny Korolev (RUS) bt Potito Starace (ITA x5) 6-3, 6-3.—Agencies