Serena Williams advances in straight sets at Brisbane

BRISBANE, Australia, Dec. 31 (UPI) -- World No. 1 Serena Williams opened her new season with a straight-set win Tuesday at the Brisbane International tennis tournament.

Williams notched the first of her 11 2013 championships at last year's Brisbane tournament and started the latest edition with a solid 6-4, 6-4 showing over Andrea Petkovic in a second-round match.

Williams dropped her serve once early in the match but ended up winning about two-thirds of the points on serve. She was particularly strong in the second set, losing seven points over five games serving.

Fourth-seeded Jelena Jankovic advanced with a 6-1, 6-3 romp over Elina Svitolina in 60 minutes. Jankovic lost only eight points in eight games serving and didn't face a break point.

Dominika Cibulkova, the No. 8 seed, got by Kimiko Date-Krumm 6-3, 1-6, 6-3. Date-Krumm had six break chances in each set but Cibulkova fought off 13 of them. Cibulkova took the match with three third-set breaks.

Kaia Kanepi knocked out ninth-seeded Carla Suarez Navarro 6-2, 6-2, taking 60 percent of the points in the hourlong match. Kanepi had six breaks in eight receiving games.