Australian Open: Venus crashes out, Wozniacki enters 2nd round

Former World No.1 Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark eased past Romania's Mihaela Buzarnescu in straight sets, avoiding more upsets in the first round of the women's singles competition at the Australian Open after former champion Venus Williams crashed out in the opening match.

Currently ranked World No.2, Wozniacki had her serve broken three times during the 71-minute match on Monday, but made the most of all six break points she was offered to carve out a 6-2, 6-3 result, reports Efe news agency.

The 29-year-old Buzarnescu committed 21 unforced errors compared to just seven by Wozniacki, who is yet to win a Grand Slam title.

Earlier, Switzerland's Belinda Bencic upset fifth seed Venus Williams in the first round of the women's singles competition in the Australian Open tennis tournament here on Monday.

Placed 78th in the world rankings, Bencic defeated the American star 6-3, 7-5 in a match that lasted one hour and 53 minutes at the Rod Laver Arena.

Bencic will face the winner of the match between Thailand's Luksika Kumkhum and Johanna Larsson of Sweden in the second round.

The world number 5 American struggled to find her rhythm in the rain-interrupted match, dropping the first set.

Although Williams fared better in the second, the in-form Swiss hitter outplayed the American and sealed the victory after breaking serve in the final game.

Bencic believes that in their previous meetings she showed the seven-time Grand Slam winner "too much respect."

"I played a little bit to careful and safe. So this time I decided to come out and hit it big," she said. "You really have to be on the limit of your game here."

It's the first time since 1997 that the Australian Open will not feature either of the Williams sisters in the second round after Serena withdrew from the tournament at the start of the month following her pregnancy.

"She played above and beyond," a disappointed Williams told Xinhua news agency after the match.

"I don't think I played a bad match... maybe I had a few too many unforced errors. I think she just played well."

William's compatriot, 10th seed CoCo Vandeweghe, was brought down by Timea Babos of Hungary 6-7 (4-7), 2-6.

Meanwhile, reigning French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia defeated Italy's Francesca Schiavone 6-1, 6-4.

Wozniacki is set to take on Jana Fett of Croatia, who dispatched Misa Eguchi of Japan 6-3, 6-2 in the second round.

Sixth-seeded Ostapenko is scheduled to play Duan Yingying of China, who defeated Colombia's Mariana Duque-Mariño 6-0, 6-1.

--IANS

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