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Serena Williams won her opening match at the 2013 Sony Ericsson Open.
© Al Bello/Getty Images
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KEY BISCAYNE, Fla. (AP) - Playing again at No. 1, Serena Williams routed Flavia Pennetta of Italy 6-1, 6-1 on Thursday in the second round of the Sony Open.
Williams is playing her first tournament since she regained the No. 1 ranking at the Qatar Open. She lost the Doha final to Victoria Azarenka, but overtook her for the top ranking the week of Feb. 11.
Williams trailed 40-0 in the first and fifth games in the first set, but went on to hold serve both times. In the first game, she uncharacteristically double-faulted on the first and third points.
``I don't think it was too much rust,'' Williams said. ``I think I missed a few shots, but only because I was off footwork-wise. It's always just good to win a match and stay in the tournament and keep going.''
Williams is trying to break the tournament record of five titles she shares with Steffi Graf.
``That would be really cool,'' Williams said. ``I have a lot of matches to play. If I can just stay relaxed, I really feel like I can do it, but I'm sometimes my own worst enemy.''
Venus Williams had a much tougher road to the third round than her younger sister.
The 18th-ranked Venus Williams eventually prevailed 7-6 (3), 3-6, 6-4 over 78th-ranked Kimiko Date-Krumm of Japan, at 42 the oldest player on the women's tour.
In a match that kept fans cheering for 2 hours, 31 minutes, the 32-year-old Venus Williams finally took advantage of her match point. At ad-out with Date-Krumm serving at 4-5, Venus Williams hit a winning backhand passing shot down the line.
Date-Krumm saved six match points - one on her own serve in the eighth game, and then five when Venis Williams was serving for the match at 5-3.
``The toughest part is when you reach the finish line and you're not able to get across,'' Venus Williams said. ``Really it's credit to her as she really hit amazing shots. I was pretty determined out there and one (match point) had to come through if I kept putting myself in that position.''
Venus Williams will play Sloane Stephens, who rallied to beat Olga Govortsova of Belarus 0-6, 6-4, 6-4. Stephens is ranked 16th, the highest-ranked American after Serena Williams.
Stephens won only four points in her three service games and 10 points overall in the opening set.
``I wasn't playing that great,'' Stephens said. ``I was asleep out there. I definitely just needed to wake up and start playing. A lot just battling and just hanging in there.''
Poland's Agnieszka Radwanska, the defending champion who is seeded fourth, defeated Taiwan's Su-Wei Hsieh 6-3, 6-2 in the second round.
``Just very happy to have a quick match,'' Radwanska said. ``The first match is always a little bit tough and tricky.''