Venus downs Shaughnessy in New Haven Open

Top seed Venus Williams began the defence of her New Haven Open title with a comfortable 6-2 6-4 victory over Meghann Shaughnessy on Tuesday.

It was a good day for the higher ranked players as there were also wins for second seed Lindsay Davenport, sixth seed Amelie Mauresmo and seventh seed Daniela Hantuchova.

Davenport dismissed Iroda Tulyaganova 6-4 7-6, Mauresmo followed up her win at the Canadian Open by beating Tatiana Panova 6-2 6-2 and Hantuchova overcame qualifier Jennifer Hopkins 6-3 6-4.

Williams dropped one point on her serve in the first set, and 21 in the second as Shaughnessy finally found her game and launched a real challenge to the world number two.

Shaughnessy, who beat Williams on American hardcourts at Stanford last year, tested he opponent with some confidence-boosting volleys, passes and returns as Williams appeared to lose her focus.

But Shaughnessy twice let the opportunity to gain the upper hand slip away.

She broke to lead 3-2 but then dropped her serve after leading 40-0 in the next game, and she held two break points at 4-4 only for Williams to retaliate with an ace and a service winner.

With that crisis over, Williams was able to break the deflated Shaughnessy to love to win the match.

"I didn't feel the first set was that easy," Williams said.

"I was going for my shots and serving pretty well, and in the second set my first serve percentage went down and that was definitely a factor. I then had to fight a little harder.

"It was nice to get that hold at 4-4. I was making a few mistakes and when I needed it, my serve got me out of it."

Shaughnessy explained that she found it difficult to get a foothold in the match as Williams came out firing.

"She came out very aggressive today and I was on the defensive pretty much from the beginning of every point. There wasn't much I could do," she said.

"In the second set, she started missing some first serves and I started attacking her second serve and that turned the match round a little bit.

"But it's always disappointing when you have opportunities and don't take advantage of them."

SET POINT

Davenport, playing only her fourth tournament of the year after undergoing knee surgery, faced a set point at 6-5 in the second set as she struggled to overcome her hard-hitting opponent, but rallied to win the tiebreak and the match.

"It was a good match but I had difficulty because not many girls serve between 110 or 115 miles an hour.

"I wasn't ready for the serves to come that hard," Davenport said.

"But fortunately when we were rallying I was hitting the ball well so I was happy about that.

"I feel like I'm playing well, but I'm having problems concentrating in matches and that's just something that comes from not playing, I guess.

"But I feel really good about my game and I feel healthy and I feel I'm in good shape out there."

In other matches, qualifier Laura Granville earned a quarter-final meeting with Williams by defeating Angelika Roesch 7-5 6-2, Patty Schnyder beat Marta Marrero 6-4 6-1 and Anastasia Myskina overcame Conchita Martinez 6-1 6-4.