Venus, Nadal, Azarenka advance at Miami

MIAMI: Venus Williams, in only her second WTA match after a long illness layoff, upset world number three Petra Kvitova on Friday to reach the third round of the WTA and ATP Miami hardcourt tournament.

World number two Rafael Nadal cruised in his opener and women's top seed Victoria Azarenka stretched her win streak to 24 matches at the $9.6 million event, but seven-time Grand Slam singles champion Williams stole the show.

"It's definitely a big step forward," Williams said after her 6-4, 4-6, 6-0 win. "To win these matches definitely a lot of it is mental, to get out there and believe you're going to win and execute.

Williams withdrew from last year's US Open with the auto-immune disorder Sjogren's syndrome, an illness that saps energy and causes joint pain. Her first tournament match since then was a first-round triumph on Wednesday.

That put Williams up against Czech third seed Kvitova, who fought to reach a third set only to be overpowered by Williams after two hours and 18 minutes.

Kvitova was impressed with how well Williams played after seven months away in booking a third-round match-up with Canadian wildcard Aleksandra Wozniak, who defeated Romania's Monica Niculescu 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.

Spanish second seed Nadal began his quest for a first-ever Miami title by ousting Colombia's Santiago Giraldo 6-2, 6-0 in 69 minutes, saying it was not as easy a victory as he made it seem.

Nadal next has a third-round date with Czech Radek Stepanek, who ousted Germany's Tommy Haas 7-6 (7/4), 6-1.

Women's world number one Azarenka eliminated Dutch player Michaella Krajicek 6-3, 7-5. Azarenka broke as Krajicek served for the second set, then held and broke again to close out the match after one hour and 42 minutes.

Azarenka, from Belarus, stretched her season-long win streak to 24 matches. She has the best start to a WTA season since Martina Hingis won 37 in a row in 1997.

Top seed Azarenka, who already has four titles this year, will next face British wildcard Heather Watson, who defeated Czech Lucie Safarova 6-2, 6-1. Azarenka has won both their prior meetings.

World number four Andy Murray eased into the third round by dispatching Colombia's Alejandro Falla 6-2, 6-3, avoiding a repeat of an embarrassing early ouster in Indian Wells.

Murray, 24, will next face big-serving Canadian 26th seed Milos Raonic, who advanced over France's Arnaud Clement 7-6 (9/7), 6-2.

Serbian world number one Novak Djokovic, winner of the past three Grand Slam men's singles tournaments, will start the defence of his title on Saturday against Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus.

Russia's Alisa Kleybanova, a former top-20 player who has missed the past 10 months battling Hodgkin's lymphoma, was beaten in her second-round match by compatriot Maria Kirilenko 7-6 (7/1), 6-3. (AFP)