Venus and Serena Williams overcame a slow start to advance into the second round of doubles at the WTA Tier II Bangalore Open on Tuesday morning.The American sisters, awarded a wild card in the doubles, beat Thailand's Tamarine Tanasugarn and Andreea Ehritt-Vanc 7-6 (5), 6-4 in the first round, in an hour and 34 minutes.
The multiple Grand Slam champs fired 10 aces and used their long reach to oust the Thai-Romanian pair. They next take on third seeds Shuai Peng and Tiantian Sun of China, who ousted Russian duo of Vesna Manasieva and Vera Zvonareva 6-3, 6-4 in their first round match on Monday.
Venus and Serena, making their debut in India, looked rusty to start off with as they were two breaks down at 0-3 in the first set. But the elder Williams started stepping into the court and making great crosscourt volleys.
Tansugarn and Ehritt-Vanc targetted Serena, who hasn't had many matches under her belt this season and, according to her father, isn't hundred per cent fit for the tournament. The 26-year-old took her time to get off the mark, but once she was more comfortable with the bounce showed glimpses of her overpowering game.
The Americans won nine points in a row to level the first set 3-3. Even in the tie-break Venus and Serena started with a 0-2 deficit but bounced back in time to take it at 7-5, after Serena looped a backhand just inside the alleys to set up their second set point.
The teams traded breaks in the third and sixth games in the second set. Venus and Serena got the decisive break in the ninth game to serve out the match at 6-4. In singles, Israel's Tzipora Obziler set up a second round clash with Serena when she beat German qualifier Angelika Bachmann 6-2, 6-3.
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