Serena Williams extends winning streak

MASON, Ohio— Serena Williams, winner of her last two tournaments, defeated Lucie Hradecka of the Czech Republic 6-3, 7-6 (5) Tuesday in the first round of the Western & Southern Open on Tuesday.

Williams has improved her world ranking from No. 175 to No. 31 in her comeback from injury and illness. She has won 12 straight matches, tying Kim Clijsters and Victoria Azarenka for the longest streak on the WTA Tour this year. Hradecka double-faulted on match point to send Williams into the second round.

French Open champion Li Na beat Lucie Safarova 6-3, 6-4 to become the first woman to reach the third round. The win was Li’s first since losing in the second round at Wimbledon. She lost in the first round last week in Toronto.

“I needed some matches for the hard court,” said Li, who reached the Australian Open finals in January. “It’s always tough, but I was happy I could win the match today.”

Jelena Jankovic of Serbia, seeded 13th, advanced to the second round with a 6-0, 6-3 romp over Czech Iveta Benesova, but barely got to the court on time. Her car ran out of fuel on the way to the match.

“I was like, ‘Oh, my God. Great. I’ve got 20 minutes to my practice session,'” Jankovic said. “Luckily, the gas station was, like, two minutes walk. There were some players passing through and looking at us in the middle of the road like, ‘What is she doing up there?’ Pretty funny. It’s not how you begin the day, but how you end it.”

Flavia Pennetta upset 12th-seeded Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 2-6, 6-3, 6-3, and 17th-seeded Yanina Wickmayer of Belgium moved on with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Serb Bojana Jovanovski. Russia’s Nadia Petrova edged Italy’s Roberta Vinci 6-3, 0-6, 6-4, and Russia’s Maria Kirilenko defeated Chinese qualifier Shuai Zhang 7-6 (2), 6-3.

In the men’s first round, Andrey Golubev of Kazakhstan upset 16th-seeded Stanlisas Wawrinka of Switzerland 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 to end a losing streak of 18 consecutive matches in ATP play.

“It was very important,” he said. “I lost a few matches when I was one or two points away from victory. It’s really tough to digest.”

Ninth-seeded Nicolas Almagro advanced with a 7-6 (5), 6-4 win over fellow Spaniard Albert Montanes, while 15th-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, a Wimbledon semifinalist, eliminated Marin Cilic of Croatia 6-3, 6-4.

Croatia’s Ivo Karlovic enjoyed a 19-1 advantage in aces while rolling to a 6-1, 6-3 victory over Germany’s Florian Mayer.