Former US Open champion Sam Stosur moved into the second round of the Western & Southern Open with a 6-1, 7-5 win over Svetlana Kuznetsova on Monday.
Stosur, who won the 2011 US Open, lost in the round of 16 at the Rogers Cup in Toronto last week after winning the Southern California Open.
In the first night session match, 37th-ranked Venus Williams — a seven-time Grand Slam champion — lost the first three games before roaring back for a 6-4, 6-1 win over qualifier Jana Cepelova. Venus was playing just her second match since losing in the first round of the French Open. She lost in the first round of the Rogers Cup at Toronto last week.
“I had a slow start,” Venus said. “I was missing shots, but I was being aggressive, so I realised if I had made a few more that it would probably be the other way for me.
Ninth-seeded Angelique Kerber, who lost in last year’s finals to Li Na, overcame losing a first-set tiebreaker before rolling through the last two sets in a 6-7 (6), 6-0, 6-1 win over qualifier Karin Knapp. American Sloane Stephens outlasted qualifier Petra Martic 6-2, 3-6, 6-3.
Former top-ranked singles player Martina Hingis and Daniela Hantuchova advanced to the second round in doubles with a 4-6, 6-4, 10-5 win over Anabel Medina Garrigues and Flavia Pennetta.