Venus Williams Advances In Istanbul Cup

Tuesday, May 22nd 2007, 12:30 pm

By: News On 6

ISTANBUL, Turkey (AP) _ Venus Williams tuned up for her first Grand Slam event of the year by routing Tatiana Poutchek of Belarus 6-1, 6-2 Tuesday in the first round of the Istanbul Cup.

The fourth-seeded Williams, the 2005 champion, will meet Aravane Rezai of France in the second round of this $200,000 clay-court warmup for the French Open, which starts Sunday.

``I haven't played at any Grand Slams this year, but that will be a great place to start,'' said Williams, who missed this year's Australia Open because of injury.

Patty Schnyder beat Chan Yung-jan of Taiwan 6-1, 6-1 and will play Vania King of the United States in the second round.