PHOTOS: Sharapova advances, Venus knocked out

Fifth seed Maria Sharapova needed three sets to dispose of American Madison Keys in her evening second round contest, prevailing 6-1, 3-6, 6-3 in just under two hours at the Western and Southern Open in Cincinnati, on Tuesday.

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Czech Lucie Safarova knocked out Venus Williams with a comeback 6-7(2), 6-3, 6-4 in the first round match.

Williams, who beat her top-ranked younger sister Serena to reach the Rogers Cup final, where she lost to Poland's Agnieszka Radwanska, looked like she might be ready to make another run in Cincinnati after taking the opening set in a tiebreak.

However, the seven-times Grand Slam champion could not convert any of her four break chances in the second while Safarova converted her one and only opportunity to level the match.

16th seed Safarova, a Wimbledon semi-finalist, stepped up the pressure in the third with two more breaks to clinch her first win in five career meetings against the 34-year-old American.

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Williams, back in top 20 for first time since March 2013 following her runner-up finish at Montreal, failed to sustain the momentum.

"It was definitely a quick turnaround, maybe would have been a little better to play a little later in the day," she said

"But she just played so well. No matter what shot I hit she hit a winner, or if I hit it really deep she somehow managed to control it down the line."

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In the other feature second round contests, Denmark’s Caroline Wozniacki made short work of China’s Zhang Shuai with a 6-2, 6-3 victory.

Wozniacki, a title winner last month in Turkey, was a class above the world number 31 Zhang, who was bounced out in the first round of her previous four tournaments.

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Second seed Simona Halep of Romania advanced to the next round with a 6-4, 6-2 victory over Kirsten Flipkins.

Halep, playing her first match since moving to a career high world number two, saved seven of nine break points on the way to victory in 87 minutes.