Venus makes smooth start in Japan

TOKYO, Japan -- Venus Williams hopes to enhance her prospects for the elite championships in Madrid by doing well in the Japan Open in Tokyo this week.

After making a smooth start to the tournament with a comfortable first round win over the 2002 champion Jill Craybas Williams explained that she had changed her mind about missing the event.

"This tournament will certainly help prepare for Madrid, and that was definitely the reason that I decided to play," said Williams, hoping to pick up her fourth title of the season in the process.

The top seed brushes aside her fellow American 6-3 6-1 in 58 minutes, then said: "I think at the moment I'm number eight, and the person behind me will definitely have to play well to get past me. It was great winning last week (in the Korea Open).

"And obviously winning another tournament makes the gap bigger. I just hope to keep playing," she added.

In the second round,she will be up against another American, Vania King, who defeated Edina Gallovits of Romania 6-2 5-7 7-5.

Fourth seed and twice-champion Ai Sugiyama of Japan and third-seeded Maria Kirilenko of Russia were both beaten by unseeded opponents.

Sugiyama went down 6-3 6-3 to Chinese qualifier Yuan Meng, while Kirilenko, last week's runner-up to Williams, lost to Camille Pin of France 6-3 4-6 6-2.

In men's matches, 2003 champion Rainer Schuettler of Germany overcame Japan's Go Soeda 6-3 1-6 6-2. E-mail to a friend