Serena Williams opens season with win in Brisbane
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Serena Williams opened her season with a first-round victory over Varvara Lepchenko on Sunday as the 2013 WTA season got underway at the Brisbane International, a hardcourt Australian Open tune- up.
Williams, the No. 3 seed, cruised past Lepchenko 6-2, 6-1 in 59 minutes on the hardcourts at Queensland Tennis Centre.
The 31-year-old Williams is coming off minor surgery on her big toes which forced her to withdraw from an exhibition match in Thailand.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Williams was named the WTA Player of the Year in 2012 after winning Wimbledon, the U.S. Open, London Olympics, and season-ending Championships.
Sixth-seeded Petra Kvitova beat Carla Suarez Navarro 6-3, 6-4 and will next do battle with Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, who outlasted Lucie Hradecka 6-3, 3-6, 6-3.
In other matches, Daniela Hantuchova took down Lourdes Dominguez Lino 7-5, 6-2, Jarmila Gajdosova rallied past Roberta Vinci 4-6, 6-1, 6-3 and Urszula Radwanska outlasted Tamira Paszek 2-6, 6-0, 6-2.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Estonian Kaia Kanepi beat Hantuchova in last year's finale here.