Venus Williams rallies to advance to 2nd round in Hong Kong

HONG KONG (AP) — Venus Williams rallied to beat Yuliya Beygelzimer of Ukraine 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 Tuesday in the opening round of the Hong Kong Open.

The third-seeded Williams wore a bandage on her left thigh and looked hampered in her movements. However, she came from a break down three times in the final set to close out the win in 2 hours, 13 minutes.

After leveling for 4-4 in the decider, she held her serve for the first time in the set to take a 5-4 lead before breaking again to secure the win.

Former No. 1 Jelena Jankovic also advanced with a 6-4, 6-2 victory over Romanian qualifier Ana Bogdan.

Two other seeded players, No. 5 Samantha Stosur of Australia and No. 7 Caroline Garcia of France also earned straight-set victories.

Stosur defeated Japan's Risa Ozaki 6-3, 6-1 while Garcia brushed aside American Lauren Davis 6-1, 6-3.