Venus Willams in Sony Ericsson Open

Number one seed, Svetlana Kuznetsova, was up to the best Hungarian Agnes Szavay could play on Saturday and the top seed proved she was up to the task. The impressive 6-2, 6-3 win lifted Kuznetsova to the final 16 in the Sony Ericsson Miami Open. This is a solid win for the Russian, trying to find her successful form of last year. Kuznetsova has suffered some early outs from her lofty seeds and she needs a strong showing here in Miami to sustain her credibility.

One player, who always oompetes well, is ageless Venus Williams. The three seed cruised through Italian challenger Roberta Vinci, 6-1, 6-4. The win is Williams’ 12th in a row and sets the bar for the women’s tour in 2010. A three time winner in Miami, another win here will be her third title in the last three outings following championships at Dubai and Acalpulco. She has also posted a 6-0 doubles record this season.

Sixth seed and hot playing Agnieszka Radwanska withstood improved play and a determined challenge from Serbia’s 25th seed Ana Ivanovic. In the end, it was Ivanovic’s inability to convert break points that led to the defeat. The match was the former number one’s best effort of the year but Radawanska was consistent when needed and out-baselined the Serb.

The day’s upset was Slovakian Daniela Hantuchova’s surprising handling of 16 seed Nadia Petrova 6-2, 6-4. It seems Petrova is starting to loose her early season focus that led to such impressive performances at Melbourne. For Hantuchova, who has been on her game of late, it was a good win against a higher ranked player.

The group of Belgians advances as 12th seed Yanina Wickmayer easily disposed of Croatian Petra Mardic 6-3, 6-3 to reach another round of 16 for the 20-year old. Women’s action picks up a more aggressive schedule on Sunday.

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