Venus Williams, in only her second WTA match after a long illness layoff, upset World No. 3 Petra Kvitova on Friday to reach the third round of the WTA and ATP Miami hardcourt tournament.
World No. 2 Rafael Nadal cruised in his opener and women's top seed Victoria Azarenka stretched her win streak to 24 matches at the $9.6 million event, but seven-time Grand Slam singles champion Williams stole the show.
In doubles action, Leander Paes and Radek Stepanek laboured their way to the pre-quarterfinals after downing Marcos Baghdatis and Sam Querrey. The seventh seeded Indo-Czech pair overcame their opponents 6-2, 7-6(3) in the opening round.
“It's definitely a big step forward,” Williams said after her 6-4, 4-6, 6-0 win. Spanish second seed Nadal began his quest for a first-ever Miami title by ousting Colombia's Santiago Giraldo 6-2, 6-0 in 69 minutes, saying it was not as easy a victory as he made it seem.
“I played a very solid match with no mistakes,” Nadal said. “No match is easy, even if the score was very easy because 6-2, 6-0 is a big difference in the score but not in the tennis. You have to fight every point. You have to find solutions every moment.”
The results: Second round: Men: Gilles Simon bt Roberto Bautista 6-4, 6-2; Jurgen Melzer bt Robin Haase 7-6(2), 3-6, 6-4; Andy Murray bt Alejandro Falla 6-2, 6-3; Jo-Wilfried Tsonga bt Xavier Malisse 7-5, 7-5.
; Alexandr Dolgopolov bt Antonio Veic 6-4, 7-5; Janko Tipsarevic bt David Nalbandian 7-5, 6-3; Philipp Kohlschreiber bt Frederico Gil 6-2, 7-5; Florian Mayer bt Ivan Dodig 6-4, 7-5; Radek Stepanek bt Tommy Haas 7-6(4), 6-1; Milos Raonic bt Arnaud Clement 7-6(7), 6-2; John Isner bt Nikolay Davydenko 2-6, 6-3, 6-4; Kei Nishikori bt Lukas Lacko 6-3, 6-3; Lukas Rosol bt Marcel Granollers 2-6, 6-3, 6-1; Tomas Berdych bt Nicolas Mahut 7-5, 6-1; Grigor Dimitrov bt Juan Ignacio Chela 6-2, 4-6, 6-4; Rafael Nadal bt Santiago Giraldo 6-2, 6-0.
Doubles: Leander Paes and Radek Stepanek bt Marcos Baghdatis and Sam Querrey 6-2, 7-6(3).
Women: Zheng Jie bt Angelique Kerber 7-6(4), 6-1; Dominika Cibulkova bt Anna Tatishvili 7- 5, 6-1; Garbine Muguruza bt Vera Zvonareva 6-4, 6-3; Silvia Soler bt Kaia Kanepi 7-5, 6-3; Aleksandra Wozniak bt Monica Niculescu 4-6, 6-3, 6-4; Ana Ivanovic bt Vania King 6-4, 7-5; Flavia Pennetta bt Lourdes Dominguez Lino 6-4, 2-6, 6-0; Maria Kirilenko bt Alisa Kleybanova 7-6(1), 6-3; Agnieszka Radwanska bt Madison Keys 6-1, 6-1; Heather Watson bt Lucie Safarova 6-2, 6-1; Victoria Azarenka bt Michaella Krajicek 6-3, 7-5; Simona Halep bt Nadia Petrova 6-3, 6-2; Ksenia Pervak bt Francesca Schiavone 6-4, 4-6, 7-5; Daniela Hantuchova bt Kateryna Bondarenko 6-7(4), 6-2, 7-6(4); Marion Bartoli bt Polona Hercog 5-7, 6-2, 6-1; Venus Williams bt Petra Kvitova 6-4, 4-6, 6-0.
