Venus eases into round two

 

Originally published on: 26/02/10 13:01

The match loomed as a tough opener for the 29-year-old American after the Czech left-hander took her to three sets in their previous meeting at the French Open last year.

It proved not to be much of a contest, however, as Venus won almost twice as many points – 62 compared to her opponent’s 37 – to clinch the win in just over an hour.

Safarova did not help her own cause as she committed 34 unforced errors.

Venus raced through the opening set in 35 minutes but was broken in the first game of the second to give hope Safarova would make a better fist of the match.

The Czech could not hold onto her advantage, though, as she was immediately broken and, while she held to level at 2-2, Venus again surged away and won the last four games to close out the match.

Earlier in the day, defending champion and world number one Serena had few problems with teenager Urszula Radwanska to book her place in the next round.

Serena clinched a 6-2 6-1 win in one hour and 17 minutes and will play either fellow American Jill Craybus or Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic in the second round.

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