Williams sisters both advance in Paris

The Williams sisters, Venus and Serena, both advanced to the to the second round of the French Open this afternoon.

The Williams sisters, Venus and Serena, both advanced to the to the second round of the French Open this afternoon.

Fourth seed Venus won in straight sets 6-2 6-4 over Thailand's Tamarine Tanasugarn and showed little sign of the ankle injury that had hampered her preparations for the tournament.

However, playing on Court Suzanne Lenglen, Venus still looked short of her best form, losing her opening service game but quickly recovered to claim the first set.

After the American established a 4-0 lead in the second set she twice lost serve to love to let Tanasugarn back into the match before wrapping up victory in one hour 11 minutes. Venus will now play either Jelena Kostanic of Croatia or French wild card Camille Pin.

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The other Williams sibling, Serena, made a victorious return to the Roland Garros centre court, trouncing Iveta Benesova 6-2 6-2 in her first round match.

The American second seed had fled the same arena in tears last year when a jeering French crowd and an inspired Justine Henin-Hardenne had proved too much for her to handle.

But on a glorious Parisian afternoon, the former world number one - radiant in a pink outfit and with a red flower in her hair - swept past the Czech with imperious ease.

She blew kisses to the French crowd and waved at the stands at the end of a typically one-sided encounter, suggesting she harboured no hard feelings.