MELBOURNE (AFP) - American eighth seed Venus Williams was brilliant but erratic as she reached the Australian Open second round Tuesday, while highly-rated Serb Ana Ivanovic's nerves almost ended her campaign.
There were no such form blips for Svetlana Kuznetsova as the Russian second seed underlined her credentials as a genuine title contender with the most emphatic victory of this year's opening round.
Sixth seed Anna Chakvetadze, meanwhile, revealed she was still struggling with the trauma of being tied up by bandits at her Moscow home last month and wanted a winning streak Down Under to take her mind off events.
Williams showed glimpses of the power and athleticism that has won her six Grand Slams as she downed China's Yan Zi 6-2, 7-5, although concentration lapses let her opponent back into the match.
The Wimbledon champion described her night as "challenging" but was not overly concerned about her mistakes.
"Errors happen, that's tennis," she said.
Melbourne hasn't been a happy hunting ground for Williams in her nine campaigns Down Under, with her best efforts when she reached the final in 2003 and the semis in 2001.
"I'm looking to definitely improve on my results, I've come close to winning, I'd like to try again," she said.
Fourth seed Ivanovic beat Sorana Cirstea of Romania 7-5, 6-3 but produced a jittery display that revived memories of her meltdown in last year's French Open final.
She was candid about her nervousness on tennis' big stage but hopeful the problem would ease at Melbourne Park, where she enjoys vocal support from her Australian-based relatives and local expatriate Serbs.
"It's no secret in the first set I was panicking a little bit and trying to find my game but I'm really happy to be through," she said.
"I can work on this for my next matches. It wasn't one of my best matches but it's important to get through these tough matches -- you can't play great every day."
While the glamorous 20-year-old's image has been plastered all over Melbourne, Kuznetsova has arrived in town unheralded and virtually unnoticed, despite her world number two ranking.
The 22-year-old showed no signs of the rustiness that has affected more high-profile contenders when she crushed Frenchwoman Nathalie Dechy 6-3, 6-1.
Kuznetsova said she was comfortable being out of the limelight as she seeks to add to her sole Grand Slam success, the 2004 US Open.
"I don't care about my profile; I care about my game," she said.
"I mean, attention is good, but too much attention is not good. I just try to really focus on my game. This is what I take care of."
Kuznetsova's compatriot Chakvetadze went through when Germany's Andrea Petkovic retired after wrenching her knee in the opening game of their match.
The 20-year-old said she was grateful to be able to concentrate on tennis rather than dwelling on a robbery last month where hooded thieves burst into her house, pistol-whipped her father and stole about 250,000 dollars in cash, jewellery and other goods.
Chakvetadze suffered a minor finger injury when she was tied up and the ordeal left Australian Open preparation in tatters.
"I am trying not to think about it, I am trying to think about tennis and trying to forget this," she said.
"If I think about it more I won't be mentally ready to play."
Slovakian ninth seed Daniela Hantuchova advanced with a 6-3,7-5 win over Vania King of the United States.
