DUBAI (Reuters) - German Sabine Lisicki defeated Taiwan's Chan Yung-jan 6-1 6-4 at the Dubai Championships on Sunday to line up a second-round clash with holder Venus Williams.
"I was very aggressive with my returns and hit some very good winners off her second serve and I think she got scared after that because I put pressure on her," Lisicki told reporters.
Three seeds were in action on the first day, with number 11 Marion Bartoli of France sweeping aside Russian Ekaterina Makarova 6-2 6-0 and number 14 Francesca Schiavone of Italy beating Romanian Sorana Cirstea 6-2 7-5.
Australian Open semi-finalist and 16th seed Zheng Jie of China, who received medical attention during the match after feeling unwell, was upset 6-3 4-6 6-2 by Australian Alicia Molik.
The $2 million event has lost world number one Serena Williams and number two Dinara Safina to injury but still features 16 of the top 20, with Caroline Wozniacki the top seed and Svetlana Kuznetsova as second seed.
The tournament also includes Israel's Shahar Peer, who plays 13th seed Yanina Wickmayer of Belgium in her opening match.
Peer was refused entry to the country last year, resulting in a threat to remove the tournament from the schedule and an unprecedented $300,000 fine.
(Editing by Tony Jimenez)
Receive your weekly recap of all the happenings around the world of sports.