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Updated at 6:51 a.m., Wednesday, May 2, 2007

Venus Williams wins in Warsaw

Associated Press

WARSAW, Poland — Venus Williams beat Michaella Krajicek 6-4, 6-3 today in a first-round match at the J&S Cup and Mara Santangelo upset fifth-seeded Nadia Petrova 6-3, 6-3 in a second-round match.

Williams traded breaks early in the first set with the 18-year-old Krajicek before breaking again at 5-4 to win the first set. Williams broke her Dutch opponent again to lead 4-2 in the second set and cruised from there.

"I think that when I make mistakes, that I'm able to correct it on the court, and I think that's really important," Williams said. "Clay is definitely about a rhythm, staying in a rhythm."

In other second-round matches, third-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova rallied past Kateryna Bondarenko 2-6, 6-2, 6-1; sixth-seeded Anna Chakvetadze beat Tathhiana Garbin 6-2, 6-2; and Alona Bondarenko topped Agnieszka Radwanska 0-6, 6-4, 6-3.

Williams is playing in her fourth tournament this year after an injury-plagued 2006. The former top-ranked American next plays seventh-seeded Elena Dementieva of Russia.

"It'll be a good match, we've played some close matches," Williams said. "The last match we played was the Fed Cup, and it went my way for the USA — but they won the Cup."

The 31st-ranked Santangelo easily won the first set, but the ninth-ranked Petrova jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the second. Santangelo then won the next six games.

"I tried to do my best, be aggressive and play my game and try to get the points, not wait for the points," Santangelo said. "I'm playing good since the beginning of the year and I'm confident. I'm feeling good physically and mentally."