Venus Williams has one more proof that she's physically fit and ready to climb rankings again. It didn't take her long to defeat Aravane Rezai of France 6-1, 6-2 in the first round of the Bausch and Lomb Championships in Florida. Williams used her powerful serve to ensure her place in the second round where her opponent will be fourth seed Patty Schnyder. So far, Williams has eight consecutive wins over Schnyder.

Nadia Petrova is one step closer to defending her title at the Bausch & Lomb Championships in Amelia Island, Florida. After having a bye in round one, she reaches the third round by beating Estonia's Kaia Kanepi in straight sets 6-4, 6-0. Her next opponent will be Zheng Jie of China.

(source: BBC Sport)

Venus Williams says that she feels good and that she is satisfied with her performance in Memphis and Miami. We will see her at the Bausch & Lomb Champinship today when her opponent in the first round will be Aravane Rezai of France. Let me just remind you that Williams won this tournament in 2002 when she was world's No. 2 female tennis player. At present she is No. 32, but here's what she has to say about her future plans:

"I'm very eager to get my ranking up but realize I have to wait and quite possibly have to play more tournaments, or I have to stay in there and win the big tournaments like (sister) Serena.

"I just have to be patient … but I want it tomorrow," she said.

Bausch & Lomb Championships starts on April 2, in Amelia Island, Florida. It is played outdoors, on green clay surface. The only two players from the top 10 who will take part in this tournament are Nadia Petrova (last year's winner) and Jelena Jankovic. Let me just remind you that players with the best results in Bausch & Lomb were Martina Navratilova, Chris Evert and Steffi Graf who all won this tournament 3 times.