Warsaw, May 3 :

Five-time Grand Slam champion Venus Williams beat Polish Urszula Radwanska 6-3, 6-3 on Wednesday in the opening round of the J&S Cup.

The 13th-ranked Williams, who hadn’t played since being knocked out in the first round of the Australian Open on January 16, will now play former No 1 Martina Hingis in the clay-court event. Also, third-seeded Elena Dementieva beat Ukraine qualifier Tatiana Perebiynis 6-2, 6-0.

Williams, who had been sidelined with strained ligaments in her right elbow, said she was “really eager” to get back into competition and described her form as “pretty solid.”

The 15-year-old Radwanska, making her WTA debut, was unable to emulate older sister Agnieszka Radwanska, who ousted 12th-ranked Anastasia Myskina on Tuesday.

Williams dominated from the outset, breaking Radwanska twice early to lead 5-3 in the first set. She served an ace to go up 30-0, before Radwanska hit a two-handed backhand wide to give Williams the set. The second set was like the first with Williams breaking to open a 5-3 lead. Radwanska seemed to tire due to Williams’ ground-strokes and double-faulted to end the match.

Estoril Open :

OEIRAS: David Nalbandian of Argentina edged Nicolas Mahut 7-5, 7-5 on Tuesday in the first round of the clay-court Estoril Open.

Nalbandian lost his serve early in both sets, but four double-faults by the Frenchman let Nalbandian back into the match. Gael Monfils topped Romania’s Razvan Sabau 6-1, 6-2; Dmitry Tursunov beat Portugal’s Gastao Elias 6-2, 6-1; and Carlos Moya beat Flavio Saretta 6-3, 6-4.

Moya broke the Brazilian’s serve in the eighth game of the first set to take a 5-3 lead and then held serve. The Spaniard saved a break point when he was 5-4 up in the second set. Seventh-seeded Nicolas Massu won 6-0, 7-5 over Netherlands’ Raemon Sluiter; and two-time Grand Slam champion Marat Safin beat Italy’s Fabio Fognini 6-1, 6-4.