• China Open

Watson beaten by Williams but Sharapova eases through

Heather Watson lost 11 successive games in defeat to Venus Williams © Getty Images

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Venus Williams moved into the second round at the China Open on Sunday with a straight-set victory against Heather Watson.

The 16th-seeded Williams came back from a 3-0 deficit in the opening set to defeat Britain's Watson 6-3 6-1. Williams started off slowly but captured 12 of the last 13 games for a routine victory.

"She brought a lot of balls back I don't think I was expecting," Williams said of going down an early break in the match. "The first games she didn't miss a serve for six points."

Williams, who recently returned to the top 20 in the rankings for the first time in over a year, could next face France's Caroline Garcia, who beat her in three tight sets at the Wuhan Open last week. Garcia plays China's Zhang Shuai in the first round.

Maria Sharapova is also through after the fourth seed overcame six double-faults to defeat Estonian Kaia Kanepi 6-4 6-1.

Sharapova, the reigning French Open champion, said despite the double-faults she thought she served well against the 46th-ranked Kanepi, a five-time Grand Slam quarter-finalist.

"I thought I played a difficult opponent, someone that I've had trouble against in the past," Sharapova said. "I'm usually somebody that goes for my serve. If I make more errors, I feel more confident knowing that I'm going for it rather than just making my opponent hit a ball."

In other first-round matches on the women's side, Samantha Stosur beat Francesca Schiavone 6-4 6-2 to set up a second-round clash with the in-form Caroline Wozniacki, who reached the final of the US Open earlier this month.

Other winners included No.12-seeded Ekaterina Makarova , who beat Garbine Muguruza 6-7(8) 6-4 6-4 and No.15-seeded Andrea Petkovic , who took out Romanian qualifier Monica Niculescu 2-6 7-6(8) 6-4.

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