Serena Williams powered past Angelique Kerber in
her opening match at the WTA Championships in
Istanbul.
The world number one broke the German's serve at
the first opportunity in each set on the way to a 6-3
6-1 success.
Second seed Victoria Azarenka was made to work
hard for a 7-6 (7-4) 6-2 victory over Italian world
number seven Sara Errani.
Poland's Agnieszka Radwanska, seeded third, lost 6-4
6-4 to the Czech Republic's fifth seed Petra Kvitova.
American Williams, already guaranteed to end the
season on top of the world rankings, is aiming to
become the first player to successfully defend the
season-ending title since Justine Henin in 2007 and win
a fourth crown overall.
She was simply too strong for world number nine
Kerber, conjuring 31 winners, but also mixing her
game to win the point on each of the 14 occasions that
she ventured to the net.
"I feel really good," said Williams. "She's beaten me
before so I was a little nervous and really focused.
"I never usually say I'm happy about a match, but I am
now and I'm excited about that.
"It's such a tough tournament. Every match you have
to be focused. I'm happy, but I have to get focused
again."
Williams's dominance was in contrast to the earlier
struggles of Azarenka, who was 5-2 down to Errani in
the first set before fighting back to take it on a tie-break
in an hour and 28 minutes.
Only when Errani called the trainer for treatment on a
calf injury did matters become simpler for the
Belarusian, with the two-time Australian Open
champion winning the final four games to complete
victory.
Meanwhile, British number three Heather Watson
claimed only a second win in two months with a hard-
fought success over American Christina McHale at the
ITF tournament in Poitiers, France.
Watson, who reached a career-high ranking of 39 in
February, has struggled since returning from a bout of
glandular fever at the French Open in May and has
slipped to 133.
Dropping down from the WTA Tour to play one of the
bigger events on the second tier, Watson lost the first
set and, after fighting back, trailed 4-2 in the decider.
But she won four successive games to come through
2-6 7-5 6-4.
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