Serena Williams survives Rogers Cup opening match after sister out

Top seeded Serena Williams managed to survive a tricky opening-round matchup in her Rogers Cup women's tournament debut Tuesday.

After losing her serve four times in the first set alone, Serena rallied for a three-set win over the Italian veteran Flavia Pennetta.

"I was really frustrated with how I was playing," Serena said. "And then I got really angry. ... So I said, 'Serena, you're going to have to be positive and be good to yourself out here.'"

Serena turned early frustration into positive energy and dominated Pennetta from the second set on to win 2-6, 6-3, 6-0 at north Toronto's Aviva Centre.

Appearing sluggish early on, Serena was unable to get to baseline shots as Pennetta painted the corners to put the pressure on. The 33-year-old blamed unforced errors for her early struggles.

Then she found her groove when down a break in the second set and looked like she flipped a switch. At that point, Serena was no match for Pennetta.

The 21-time Grand Slam winner was trying to avoid the Rogers Cup being without a Williams sister after Venus was eliminated in the first round Monday night in straight sets by Germany's Sabine Lisicki.

Venus Williams waited out a lengthy rain delay only to lose her first-round match 6-0, 6-3 to Lisicki. "I really had an off day," Venus said. "It was definitely a long wait and tough to not warm up. My opponent and I were under the same conditions, and she played really well."

Rain washed out most of the matches scheduled in the women's half of the draw, and Venus and Lisicki didn't take the court until after 10 p.m. When they finally started at 10:14, the 14th-seeded Venus wasn't sharp, giving away seven points on double faults.

Lisicki, on the other hand, was strong in her service game and rarely made the kind of mistakes that cost Venus. "Against Venus you have to play well to be able to beat her," Lisicki said. "You have to be ready and fight for every point, and I'm very pleased with my performance."

Rainy Monday forced a crowded schedule of 28 matches for Tuesday. Serena is the only player back for this Rogers Cup who played in 2001, when she won the tournament for the first time. "Like a nice vintage wine," she explained her longevity. "A good vintage red wine, I'd say, getting better with age, I hope."

In the Rogers Cup men's tournament in Montreal, world No. 1 Novak Djokovic of Serbia cruised into the third round after a Tuesday match against Brazilian Thomaz Bellucci. Endi