Intro:

Venus Williams and Angelique Kerber were made to work for their first and second round victories, on Tuesday (August 14) at the Cincinnati Masters.

Script:

Venus Williams has struggled with illness in recent months but the seven-time Grand slam champion returned to form against Maria Kirilenko in the the first round of the Western & Southern Open on Tuesday.

The American took the first set 6-3 but was broken as she served for the match.

However, Kirilenko failed to maintain the momentum and double faulted to hand Venus a 6-3, 6-7, 6-2 victory.

Williams will face Chanelle Scheepers in the second round of the Cinicinnati tournament.

Angelique Kerber advanced to the third round after she defeated Timea Babos in three sets.

Kerber recovered well from dropping the first set to take the second 6-1.

The German continued to dominate her Hungarian opponent as she progressed to the third round with a 3-6. 6-1, 6-2 win.