Serena to open against China’s Li

 

Originally published on: 26/02/10 12:03

Na Li set up the second-round meeting by coasting to a 6-1 6-2 victory over Nicole Vaidisova as the tournament got underway on Monday.

The world’s top-ranked player, Williams collected her ninth career Grand Slam title earlier this month at Flushing Meadows, where she stormed through a loaded draw before edging Jelena Jankovic in the final.

Williams headlines another tough draw at this hardcourt event, which will feature eight of the world’s top-10 ranked players. The top four seeds received first-round byes.

Jankovic, the world number two, is seeded second and hopes to continue her recent stellar play after winning the title last week at Beijing.

She will take on the Ukraine’s Alona Bondarenko, who swept past Greece’s Eleni Daniilidou, 7-6 (7-5) 6-1 on Monday.

World number three Dinara Safina is seeded third, followed by fellow Russians Elena Dementieva and Svetlana Kuznetsova, ranked fifth and seventh, respectively.

Dementieva opens play against Austria’s Sybille Bammer, who ousted Germany’s Tatjana Malek, 4-6 6-2 7-5, in Monday’s only other match.

Venus Williams is the sixth seed while Vera Zvonareva, the world’s ninth-ranked player, and world number 10 Agnieszka Radwanska received the seventh and eighth seeds.

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