Venus overpowers Riske at Cincinnati Masters

(Reuters) - Ninth-seeded Venus Williams used her powerful serve and pinpoint shot making to defeat fellow American Alison Riske 6-2 6-0 in the first round of the Cincinnati Masters on Tuesday. Riske put a volley wide to end a seven-minute game and hand the first set to Williams on a sunny day on center court at the Lindner Family Tennis Center. An early break in the second set put the 37-year-old Williams in complete control and she cruised to victory. Fashion-conscious Williams' biggest struggle on the court may have been with her jewelry after her hoop earing fell off at one point and later got tangled with her necklace. The win sets up a second round battle between Williams and Australian Ashleigh Barty, who defeated American Varvara Lepchenko 6-4 6-4 earlier on Tuesday. In other first round action, Latvia's French Open champion and 12the seed Jelena Ostapenko was upset 6-4 6-2 by unseeded Russian Aleksandra Krunic. Tenth-seeded Pole Agnieszka Radwanska also had a surprisingly early exit after she fell 6-4 6-4 to German Julia Gorges in the round of 64. Spain's Wimbledon champion Garbine Muguruza, seeded fourth, is set to face Beatriz Haddad Maia of Brazil in a second-round clash later on Tuesday. (Reporting by Rory Carroll in Los Angeles)