Williams sisters battle on
Serena and Venus fail to reach top form in Stanford
Last Updated: July 29, 2009 7:26am
Winning start: Venus and Serena Williams
The Williams sisters got their challenges at the Bank of the West Classic off to successful starts despite failing to reach top form.
Wimbledon champion Serena Williams, who was returning to action for the first time since her triumph at SW19, needed to dig deep to overcome the gutsy Li Na at the Taube Family Tennis Center in Stanford.
Serena broke three times in the first set but her Chinese opponent refused to give in, taking the second set to a tie-break before eventually going down 6-3 7-6 (8-6).
The scoreline looked more comfortable for Venus Williams, who lost to Serena in the Wimbledon final, but she was still guilty of a number of errors.
Venus secured a 6-2 6-3 victory over Canada's Stephanie Dubois - however the American looked far from sharp.
Defending champion Aleksandra Wozniak crashed out in three sets as Slovakia's Daniela Hantuchova racked up a 6-4 4-6 7-5, while sixth seed Dominika Cibulkova suffered an upset as she lost 6-4 6-3 to Australia's Samantha Stosur.
Russia's Maria Kirilenko saw off compatriot Anna Chakvetadze 6-3 6-1, while Germany's Sabine Lisicki knocked out Lilia Osterloh 6-2 6-3.
Fourth seed Jelena Jankovic eased into the second round with a 6-3 6-1 win over America's Angela Haynes, while Marion Bartoli, the eighth seed, knocked out Japan's Ayumi Morita 7-6 6-3.
Russian qualifier Alla Kudryavtseva defeated France's Julie Coin 6-1 7-6, with Melanie Oudin seeing off fellow American Hilary Barte 6-2 6-1
