Australian eighth seed Daria Gavrilova is into the second round of the Hong Kong tennis open after crushing China's Zhu Lin 6-0 6-2 on Monday.
Gavrilova saved four break points in the match and will play either Katerina Siniakova or Nicole Gibbs in the next round.
Venus Williams put her vast experience to good use as the second seed saw off Japan's Risa Ozaki 6-4 6-1.
Seven-time grand slam champion Williams, a 2015 semi-finalist at Victoria Park, will next play Alize Cornet after the Frenchwoman beat Varvara Lepchenko 6-3 6-2.
Williams made up for two poor weeks in Asia with her winning start after losing as holder in the Wuhan second round and going out last week in her opening contest at Beijing.
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"It feels good; a win is a win," Williams said. "I was playing against an inexperienced opponent and I was able to use my experience to help myself.
"She played some good defence and was very competitive."
The hardcourt tournament, now in its third edition, features world No.1 Angelique Kerber as top seed; the German opens play in the first round against Greek outsider Maria Sakkari.
Jelena Jankovic is defending the title and begins her campaign against Samantha Crawford of the US.
