Venus tops Benesova in Charleston opener

CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP)â€"Venus Williams defeated qualifier Iveta Benesova of the Czech Republic 6-4, 6-3 Tuesday in the Family Circle Cup, her second tournament after a long layoff.
 
“This is great for me to be in another match and to be in the second round,” said Williams, who has been idle most of the past seven months because of an autoimmune disease that causes fatigue and joint pain. She was back in action last week in Miami and Tuesday was her first match on clay in months. “It was a good start,” she said.

She said she takes a lot of ice baths and after she was eliminated in Miami she took three days off just to rest.
 
“For me it’s just about having energy at this point. I try not to worry about tomorrow,” although she said she is thinking about the Olympics and getting her ranking up.
 
“I’m very happy I’m on the right road, but I’m very unhappy I didn’t do more” in Miami, she said. There she won three consecutive three-set matches to reach the quarterfinals, but lost 6-4, 6-1 to Agnieszka Radwanska.
 
“That’s the past. There’s so many opportunities going forward and I try to focus on the forward and focus on every day and today’s win takes me closer,” she said.
 
Tuesday’s win was Williams’ fourth straight against Benesova, who is ranked No. 44. Williams has won seven Grand Slam tournaments but is now ranked 87th after her time off the tour. She won the Family Circle Cup eight years ago and is unseeded this time.
 
One thing that seemed to be back to normal was Williams’ serve. She notched six aces in the match and her first serve consistently topped 110 mph, one hitting 117.
 
Sister Serena is seeded fifth for this week’s clay-court event in Charleston. She plays in Tuesday night’s featured match against Elena Vesnina of Russia. The Williams sisters could meet in Saturday’s semifinals.
 
Also Tuesday, 12th-seeded Yanina Wickmayer of Belgium defeated Vania King of the U.S. 6-4, 6-3.
 
Nadia Petrova, the No. 13 seed, defeated Mariana Duque-Marino 6-1,6-2, while Marina Erakovic of New Zealand defeated Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic 62, 6-4. American Jill Craybas eliminated Akgul Amanmuradova 7-6 (2), 7-6 (6) while Yaroslava Shvedova defeated Alexandra Panova 6-0, 6-4.