Top-seeded
Venus Williams, looking to gain confidence this week before the French Open, kicked it up a notch Tuesday at the WTA stop in Istanbul with a 6-0, 6-0 opening win over Spain's Marta Marrero.
Venus' title drought has now stretched over a year, with the former No. 1 last raising a trophy at Warsaw in 2004.
Other seeded winners Tuesday were (3)
Anna Smashnova (d. Castano in three) and (5) Anna-Lena Groenefeld (d. Diaz-Oliva).
Qualifiers also had their day with three into the second round in Croat
Ivana Abramovic (d. (WC) Ozgen, bagel in the second), Russian
Elena Vesnina (d. (WC) Buyukakcay), and Bulgarian Tszvetana Pironkova (d. (6) Shaughnessy).
Other un-seeds advancing were Israel's
Shahar Peer (d. (LL) K.Bondarenko) and Swiss
Emmanuelle Gagliardi (d. (Q) Stanciute in three).
On tap Wednesday in Istanbul are Panova vs. Chakvetadze, Hopkins vs. Smashnova, Abramovic vs. Vaidisova, Groenefeld vs. Gagliardi, Morigami vs. Peer, Fedak vs. Pironkova, and Washington vs. Vesnina.
