Venus Williams in second round of Australian Open

Zeenews Sports Bureau

Melbourne: Venus Williams of USA defeated Galina Voskoboeva of Kazakhstan 6-1, 6-0 to move to the second round of the Australian Open on Monday. The 32-year-old American won the Luxembourg event last October – her first title in three years after battling injuries and illness – overpowered her 28-year-old opponent. She dropped outside the top 100 following a seven-month layoff due to an illness that causes fatigue. Her younger sister, Serena, was sitting in the crowd with coach Patrick Mouratoglou. Williams will now meet either France`s Alize Cornet or New Zealand`s Marina Erakovic in the second round and if she progresses further, could meet Maria Sharapova in the third round. With Agencies