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Williams crushes Lisicki in Dubai

Venus Williams fired out a warning to the rest of the field with victory over Sabine Lisicki © Getty Images

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Day Three in pictures

Venus Williams' quest to defend the Dubai Tennis Championships began in fine style with a 6-2 6-3 win over Germany's Sabine Lisicki.

The American No. 3 seed was handed a bye in the first round and hit the ground running in round two as she secured breaks of serve from the two points she had in the first set.

The second set was not quite as one sided, Lisicki secured a break of her own, but the seven-time Grand Slam winner again broke twice from just two break points to wrap up the match in an hour and seven minutes.

Caroline Wozniacki overcame a wobble to book her place in the third round with a 6-2 7-6 win over Dominika Cibulkova.

Danish No. 1 seed Wozniacki was in fine form in the first set, breaking her opponent's serve three times, but her level dropped in the second set as her Slovak rival raced into a lead. With the set in sight, Cibulkova stuttered and Wozniacki reeled off a run of games to force a tie-break and her greater experience told as she wrapped up the breaker 7-2.

"I was getting a bit nervous," Wozniacki said. "But I went out there and I fought and didn't give up, and felt like I was in there all the time. So I thought it might be just a matter of time. It's a bit difficult to play here because the ball flies a bit, but the courts are pretty slow. You have to get used to it."

Fifth seed Elena Dementieva was the first major casualty, falling to Slovakia's Daniela Hantuchova. The Russian, already with two titles to her name this season, lost the first set 6-4, before she retired injured at 1-1 in the second.

Jelena Jankovic was taken the distance by Aravane Rezai before progressing 4-6 6-4 7-5. The No. 6 seed received a bye in the first round and coming into the match cold seemed to affect her as he she dropped her serve twice in the opening set.

The Serbian continued to struggle in the second set but overcome the loss of her serve to take it and came through a tense third to close out the match after a strength-sapping two hours and 16 minutes.

The No. 14 seed Francesca Schiavone was sent packing from Dubai by Olga Govortsova who secured four breaks of serve in her 6-4 6-4 win. Govortsova's reward for her win is a clash with Williams in round three.

Marion Bartoli had no trouble in disposing of Alexandra Dulgheru, racing through the match 6-2 6-1.

Shahar Peer is fully justifying her place in the field as she breezed past Virginie Razzano to claim a place in round three. A political row prevented her from playing 12 months ago, but she was granted a visa this year and after batting past Yanina Wickmayer on Monday she proved much too good for her French opponent with a 6-2 6-2 win to book a meeting with Wozniacki in round three.

"I am very happy with my performance," Peer said. "It was a difficult day for me yesterday because I had two matches and, you know, a lot of emotions, so I am very happy I could be out there and playing very very good tennis today."

Caroline Wozniacki was not at her best but still proved too good for Dominika Cibulkova © Getty Images

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Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova recovered from the setback of losing the first set to Tathiana Garbin to run out a 4-6 6-1 6-2 winner, while qualifier Regina Kulikova moved into round three with a 6-3 6-0 win over Stefanie Voegele.

Na Li's positive start to the season continued, but the No. 8 seed was pushed hard to secure a 7-6 2-6 6-4 win over Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez.

Anna-Lena Groenfeld's powerful play from the baseline proved too much for Alicia Molik, as the German claimed a 6-4 6-4 win to ease into round three.

Tenth seed Flavia Pennetta had a comfortable passage into round three, as she broke serve three times in her 6-3 6-3 win over Andrea Petkovic.

Fourth seed Victoria Azarenka eased into round three, as Kateryna Bondarenko retired when trailing 4-1 in the first set.

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