Williams sisters through in Stanford

 

Originally published on: 26/02/10 11:39

Serena and Venus Williams got off to winning starts at the Bank of the West Classic, but Anne Keothavong suffered injury heartbreak in the doubles.

Wimbledon champ Serena, playing for the first time since her Wimbledon triumph, was forced to dig deep to beat Na Li 6-3 7-6(6).

Despite breaking the Chinese player three times in the first set she could not subdue a tenacious second set performance from her opponent until the tie-break

While sisters Venus’ scoreboard made her first round victory over Stephanie Dubois look comfortable, the American looked far from her best.

Venus secured a 6-2 6-3 victory over the Canadian despite an error-strewn performance.

No.4 seed Jelena Jankovic eased through with a 6-3 6-1 win over American Angela Haynes, while Marion Bartoli knocked out Ayumi Morita of Japan 7-6 6-3.

But defending champion Aleksandra Wozniak crashed out at the first hurdle, beaten in three sets by Daniela Hantuchova.

The Slovakian pipped Wozniack 6-4 4-6 7-5 as her mid-season form transfers from the grass-court season, while her compatriot and No.6 seed Dominika Cibulkova was upset 6-4 6-3 by Sam Stosur.

Maria Kirilenko saw off compatriot Anna Chakvetadze 6-3 6-1 to set up a second all-Russian tie with Elena Dementieva, while Sabine Lisicki knocked out Lilia Osterloh 6-2 6-3.

Russian qualifier Alla Kudryavtseva defeated Julie Coin 6-1 7-6, with Melanie Oudin seeing off fellow American Hilary Barte 6-2 6-1.

In the doubles, Anne Keothavong and partner Morita retired from their first round match after the British No.1 injured her left knee after hitting a fence while chasing a shot during their match aginst Julie Coin and Marie Pelletier.

Keothavong could be heard screaming after suffering the injury, which immediately lead to their withdrawal at 4-6 5-3. After receiving treatment, Keothavong now awaits the results of a scan later today to assess the extent of the damage.

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