Agnieszka, Venus Win as First Round Continues

The first round of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix continued on Tuesday, with two of its seeded players - Agnieszka Radwanska and Venus Williams - making first appearances of the week at the Tier II event. Both were easy winners.
 
Radwanska, ranked No.10 in the world and the No.8 seed, was the first of the seeded pair to advance, cruising past Czech qualifier Sandra Zahlavova, 63 62. Radwanska fell in the first round at Beijing last week but rebounded nicely in Stuttgart, breaking serve four times and saving seven of the eight break points she faced herself.
 
Williams, ranked No.8 and seeded No.6, was even more impressive against German wildcard Anna-Lena Groenefeld, breaking serve four times and never facing a break point herself during a one-hour, seven-minute, 61 62 win. It was a similar result to the pair's only previous encounter at Miami three years ago, which the American won handily, 62 60. Williams is playing the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix for the first time in 10 years, making the second round in 1998.
 
In matches between unseeded players, Marion Bartoli beat Dominika Cibulkova easily, 63 61; Victoria Azarenka edged Agnes Szavay, 75 63; Nadia Petrova crushed qualifier Barbora Zahlavova Strycova, 62 62; and qualifiers Kateryna Bondarenko and Tsvetana Pironkova also made it through with wins over Top 20 players Flavia Pennetta of Italy and Alizé Cornet of France, respectively.
 
The last two first round matches - Svetlana Kuznetsova against Patty Schnyder and Vera Zvonareva against Daniela Hantuchova - take the court on Wednesday. The first three second round matches will also be played, including those of Top 4 seeds Serena Williams and Elena Dementieva.