PARIS, Feb 12: World No 1 Serena Williams eased into the second round of the Paris Open with a 6-1, 6-4 victory over Czech Iveta Benesova on Wednesday.

Serbian second seed Jelena Jankovic had a much tougher time as she needed over two hours to see off Italy’s Francesca Schiavone 7-5, 7-6, while Russian third-seed and Olympic champion Elena Dementieva overcame Aravane Rezai of France 6-4, 6-3.

Fourth-seed Agnieszka Radwanska came back from a set and three games down to beat Alisa Kleybanova in the second round.

Australian Open champion Williams won six games in a row to take the opening set and ended Benesova’s misery with a backhand winner as the clock ticked past the hour.

The American top seed will next meet qualifier Karolina Sprem of Croatia for a quarter-final spot.

Jankovic, who lost her world No 1 spot to Williams after losing in the fourth round in Melbourne last month, needed just a break to take the opening set.

Following an exchange of breaks in the second, Schiavone hammered Jankovic with powerful forehand groundstrokes and even had a set point at 5-4.

Jankovic, however, saved it to force a tiebreak that she easily won 7-2 to set up an encounter with China’s Li Na.

Poland’s Radwanska, who beat Kleybanova 6-7, 6-4, 6-2, will next meet local favourite Amelie Mauresmo or Romanian Monica Niculescu, while Dementieva’s next opponent will be fellow Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenko.

Mauresmo gained revenge for her Fed Cup defeat by Sara Errani by thrashing the Italian 6-2, 6-0 in 58 minutes.

Errani had beaten Mauresmo on Sunday en route to Italy’s 5-0 win over France in the women’s team event.

Swiss sixth seed Patty Schnyder beat Ukraine’s Alona Bondarenko to set up a second round meeting with France’s Nathalie Dechy.

Wednesday’s results (prefix number denotes seeding):

Second round: 4-Agnieszka Radwanska (Poland) bt Alisa Kleybanova (Russia) 6-7 (5-7), 6-4, 6-2; Emilie Loit (France) bt Kaia Kanepi (Estonia) 2-6, 6-3, 6-1.

First round: 3-Elena Dementieva (Russia) bt Aravane Rezai (France) 6-4, 6-3; 2-Jelena Jankovic (Serbia) bt Francesca Schiavone (Italy) 7-5, 7-6 (7-2); 8-Amelie Mauresmo (France) bt Sara Errani (Italy) 6-2, 6-0; 1-Serena Williams (US) bt Iveta Benesova (Czech Republic) 6-1, 6-4; 6-Patty Schnyder (Switzerland) bt Alona Bondarenko (Ukraine) 6-4, 7-6 (7-3).

NADAL FIGHTS BACK

ROTTERDAM: World No 1 Rafael Nadal fought back from a set down to overcome Italy’s Simone Bolelli 4-6, 6-2, 7-5 in the first round of the World Indoor Tournament on Wednesday.

“This is one the fastest courts I played on the last year and I was difficult to pick up my rhythm also because he played so fast,” Nadal told reporters. “But later on I improved, aimed more on my forehand and served better.”

Bolelli converted the only break opportunity he created on Nadal’s service game to clinch the first set but dropped games on his own serve twice in the next set.

Nadal, in his first match since beating Roger Federer in the Australian Open final, wasted 12 break points, including two match points in the 10th game of the final set but converted his third two games later.

Nadal will face 17-year-old Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov on Thursday in the second round. Earlier on Wednesday, Frenchmen Gilles Simon and Jo-Winfried Tsonga reached the second round following straight sets wins over Philipp Kohlschreiber and Jesse Huta Galung.

Mikhail Youzhny, winner in Rotterdam in 2007, beat David Ferrer 6-2, 3-6, 6-2 while third seed Nikolay Davydenko was stunned by Julien Benneteau of France 6-3, 6-2.

Results:

Second round: Julien Benneteau (France) beat 3-Nikolay Davydenko (Russia) 6-3 6-2; Mikhail Youzhny (Russia) beat 6-David Ferrer (Spain) 6-2 3-6 6-2

First round: 1-Rafael Nadal (Spain) bt Simone Bolelli (Italy) 4-6, 6-2, 7-5; 7-Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (France) bt Jesse Huta Galung (Netherlands) 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (7-4); Marc Gicquel (France) bt Evgeny Korolev (Russia) 3-6, 6-3, 6-2; Michael Llodra (France) bt Ivo Karlovic (Croatia) 4-6, 6-3, 6-4; 4-Gilles Simon (France) bt Philipp Kohlschreiber (Germany) 7-5, 7-6 (7-1); Mario Ancic (Croatia) beat Rainer Schuettler (Germany) 7-5, 6-2.

BLAKE WINS IN STYLE

SAN JOSE (California): Third seed James Blake opened his San Jose Open campaign in style, handing a 6-3, 6-4 defeat to fellow American Vince Spadea on Wednesday.

The 29-year-old made short work of his opponent, closing out the match in just 50 minutes, recording 12 aces and converting two break opportunities.

Sixth-seeded Sam Querrey knocked off Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis in an entertaining opener, 6-3, 5-7, 7-6. Baghdatis led 4-0 in the decisive set but lost four straight games to allow his American opponent to climb back into the match and eventually clinch it.

Argentine second seed Juan Martin Del Potro needed two tie-breaks to defeat Italian Andrea Stoppini 7-6, 7-6 while American Josh Isner defeated Ramon Delgado 7-6, 6-4.

In second round action, Czech Republic’s Radek Stepanek defeated Australian Chris Guccione 6-2, 7-6 while German Tommy Haas advanced against Christophe Rochus of Belgium 6-2, 7-5.

Results:

Second round: Tommy Haas (Germany) bt Christophe Rochus (Belgium) 6-2, 7-5; 4-Radek Stepanek (Czech Republic) bt Chris Guccione (Australia) 6-2, 7-6.

First round: 3-James Blake (US) bt Vince Spadea (US) 6-3, 6-4; 2-Juan Martin Del Potro (Argentina) bt Andrea Stoppini (Italy) 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (7-5); 6-Sam Querrey (US) bt Marcos Baghdatis (Cyprus) 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (7-5); John Isner (US) bt Ramon Delgado (Paraguay) 7-6 (11-9), 6-4.—Reuters