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| Venus Williams |
off to a solid start with a comfortable win over Belinda Bencic.
Defending champion Venus Williams became the first woman to reach the third round of this year's WTA Dubai Tennis Championships by seeing off Belinda Bencic.
Williams defeated Alize Cornet in the 2014 showpiece, to add to
back-to-back titles in 2009 and 2010.
Having enjoyed a bye in the opening round, the eighth seed at the Premier hard-court event made short work of Bencic, coming
through 6-1 6-2.
Williams broke Bencic twice in the opening set and, after falling 2-0 behind in the second, roared back to reel off six successive games and seal victory with a strong serve out wide that Bencic
could only return wide.
