This archive report was first published on 14 August 2019.
On Tuesday, former world number one Venus Williams played smart tennis to beat defending champion Kiki Bertens 6-3 3-6 7-6(4) in the second round of the Cincinnati Masters.
Her sister Serena Williams, who was forced to retire from the Rogers Cup final on Sunday due to back spasms, withdrew from the tournament as she prepares for her tilt at a 24th Grand Slam title at this month's U.S. Open.
Williams surged ahead 3-0 in the third set against Bertens, thanks to some excellent volleying, but struggled to put her opponent away, committing numerous errors when serving for the match at 5-3.
Bertens held at 5-5 and then forced a tie-break with an ace, but Williams took control of the tie-break, moving ahead 3-0 and 6-2 before sealing the win.
"I just tried not to go too big, because I can go so big and I have a lot of power and it's not always easy to control it," Williams said. "So I'm trying to play smart instead of going hog wild, which is extremely easy to do."
Other notable results from the tournament included German 13th seed Angelique Kerber's exit when she lost to Estonia's Anett Kontaveit 7-6(7) 6-2, and Swiss 12th seed Belinda Bencic's retirement with a foot injury when trailing Victoria Azarenka 6-4 1-0.
