WILLIAMS starts defense with straight sets victory over Japanese

Tuesday, June 26th 2001, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

WIMBLEDON, England (AP) _ Venus Williams rallied from 3-1 down in the second set to begin the defense of her Wimbledon title with a 6-2, 6-3 victory over Japan's Shinobu Asagoe on Tuesday.

Returning to the Centre Court where she defeated Lindsay Davenport in last year's final, Williams raced through the first set with breaks in the second and sixth games but ran into trouble at the start of the second.

Asagoe led 2-0 and 3-1 before the big-hitting American lifted her game to regain control by winning the last five games of the match. It was the ninth tournament in a row that Asagoe had lost in the first round.