Venus Williams advances in Zurich

Oct 16, 2008 - 12:05 AM ZURICH, Switzerland (Ticker) -- Venus Williams is a step closer to reclaiming the Zurich Open championship.

The third-seeded American defeated Ukrainian Alona Bondarenko, 6-3, 6-4, on Wednesday to became the first player to reach the quarterfinals of the Tier II hardcourt event.

While Williams has won this event before, the memory of that triumph is probably a bit fuzzy. It was in 1999 when Williams, at the age of 19, topped No. 1 Martina Hingis in the final to claim the ninth of her 37 career titles.

Despite coming off a first-round loss to Flavia Pennetta at the Kremlin Cup last week, Williams looked solid against Bondarenko, firing four aces and saving all four break points.

"When the points became important, I was winning those, especially on my serve," Williams said. "I was trying to put more into coming in (to the net) on different kinds of shots. I'll be looking to improve my level with every round."

A seven-time Grand Slam champion, Williams next will face Italy's Francesca Schiavone, who got past Russian Maria Kirilenko, 6-3, 7-5, in Wednesday's other second-round match.

In one of three first-round matches played Wednesday, Pennetta of Italy defeated Russia's Nadia Petrova, 6-1, 6-1, to set up a meeting with top seed and world No. 1 Jelena Jankovic.

Pennetta has not been able to solve Jankovic, who owns a 5-0 lead in the series and comes into this event having won three consecutive tournaments.

Also claiming first-round victories were Swedish qualifier Sofia Arvidsson and Katarina Srebotnik of Slovenia.

First prize is $95,000.