Williams cruises to quarter final in Bangkok tennis Open

BANGKOK—Reigning Wimbledon champion Venus Williams sailed through to the quarter final of the Bangkok Open, beating both Denmark’s Caroline Wozniacki and Thai Tamarine Tanasugarn in straight sets on Thursday.
Williams, a six-time Grand Slam winner, beat last year’s tournament runner-up and Bangkok Open veteran Tamarine 6-4, 6-1 in the second round, despite a sluggish start which saw the American broken in the first game.
But 27-year-old Williams managed to regain control of her serve and keep the Thai on the defensive, setting up a quarter final with France’s Camille Pin. “It’s definitely been an interesting start to the tournament for me,” Williams said.
“(Pin) is a good player, I think her strength is defence,” she added. Tamarine remains without a win in six attempts against Williams, ranked eighth in the world, who handed down a 6-2, 6-1 drubbing to the Thai at the Korea Open in Seoul two weeks ago.
“The first time I saw the draw I was shocked,” said Tamarine. “I knew it was going to be a tough week for me.” Williams, the tournament’s second seed, had earlier Thursday clinched an easy 6-2, 6-2 first round win over Danish teenager Caroline Wozniacki.
The American had been leading 6-2, 4-1 when rain forced a suspension in play late Wednesday, and did not need much time to complete the rout, using her powerful forehand to finish off the Dane.
It was also Williams’s second win over Wozniacki in a week, on the heels of a semi-final triumph at the Japan Open in Tokyo.
In other action on Thursday, fourth seed Virginie Razzano of France — who upset Williams to win in Tokyo last weekend — was herself upset by Polish teenager Urszula Radwanska, 7-6 (7/3), 7-5. The loss ended Razzano’s 11-match winning streak.
Radwanska, this year’s Wimbledon girls’ singles winner, will now square off in the quarter final with Taiwan’s Chan Yung-Jan, who defeated Canadian Aleksandra Wozniak 4-6, 6-3, 6-2.
Third seed Shahar Peer of Israel recovered from a shaky first round performance to dismantle Anastasia Rodionova in straight sets, 6-1, 6-1. Peer, the world number 16, will face seventh seed Flavia Pennetta of Italy.
China’s Yan Zi, who escaped the first round when top-seeded Serbian Jelena Jankovic retired on Wednesday, bounced back from one set down to defeat Russia’s Olga Poutchkova 3-6, 6-1, 6-1.
Yan will next face either defending champion Vania King of the United States or fifth seed Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia.—Agencies