Venus chalks up 700th career victory

The 35-year-old American became the ninth woman to chalk up 700 victories since tennis turned professional in 1968 but still has a long way to go to catch all-time leader Martina Navratilova (1,442).

(Reuters)

"I'm glad nobody told me before, I would have been a little bit nervous," Williams said. "It was a good match, she's a quality player."

Two other former world number ones did not fare so well.

Denmark's Caroline Wozniacki was beaten 1-6 6-4 7-6 (6) by Anna Karolina Schmiedlova after blowing a 6-1 4-1 lead in a marathon match that lasted almost three hours.

"I'm very, very happy and very, very tired right now," said Slovak Schmiedlova.

Belarussian Victoria Azarenka was another early casualty, retiring from her match with Britain's Johanna Konta because of a leg injury while trailing 6-4 1-0.

(Writing by Julian Linden in Singapore; Editing by Tony Jimenez)