Venus rolls while Safina, Kuznetsova struggle through

US third seed Venus Williams overwhelmed Belarus qualifier Olga Govortsova 6-2, 6-2 on Tuesday to breeze into the third round of a $2 million WTA hardcourt tournament.

Russian top seed Dinara Safina rallied to reach to the third round with a 2-6, 7-5, 6-4 victory over Italy's Roberta Vinci.

Safina's next opponent will be either China's Peng Shuai, who ousted Slovakian Dominika Cibulkova 6-2, 6-1, or Spaniard Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez, who defeated Russian Vera Dushevina 6-4, 3-6, 6-3.

Russian sixth seed Svetlana Kuznetsova also struggled into the third round, outlasting Czech Lucie Safarova 6-3, 6-7 (2/7), 7-6 (7/4).

Second seed Serena Williams is on the opposite side of the draw from Safina and Venus, setting up the possibility of a finals showdown with either barely two weeks before the start of the US Open.