Venus Williams made a successful return to the Porsche Grand Prix tennis tournament after 10 years, advancing to the second round by beating Germany's Anna-Lena Groenefeld 6-1, 6-2 Tuesday in Stuttgart, Germany.

"She hit some great shots, but my experience helped me," said sixth-seeded Williams, who made it to the second round in 1998 in her only previous Stuttgart visit.

Williams next plays qualifier Kateryna Bondarenko, who rallied to upset 15th-ranked Flavia Pennetta 4-6, 6-2, 6-1.

Another qualifier advanced when Tsvetana Pironkova beat teenager Alize Cornet of France 6-2, 6-1. The Bulgarian next plays third-seeded Dinara Safina of Russia, who had a bye into the second round, along with the indoor tournament's other top three players -- Serena Williams, Jelena Jankovic and Elena Dementieva.

TASHKENT OPEN: Ksenia Palkina, a teenager from Kyrgyzstan ranked 203rd, upset second-seeded and 44th-ranked Olga Govortsova of Belarus 7-6 (7), 4-6, 7-5 in the first round at Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

JAPAN OPEN: Japanese teenager Kei Nishikori returned to the tournament where he made his debut last year, beating American Robert Kendrick 7-6 (3), 6-7 (5), 6-2 to reach the second round at Tokyo.

Nishikori, who is ranked 84th and advanced to the fourth round of the U.S. Open, will play Spain's Guillermo Garcia-Lopez today.

In the women's bracket, 17-year-old Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova knocked out third-seeded Zheng Jie of China 6-1, 6-2.

Israel's Shahar Peer, seeded sixth, defeated Japan's Kimiko Krumm Date 6-3, 6-1. Date, 38, who made her comeback to pro tennis this year, won this tournament four times in the 1990s.

RailHawks' Watson earns league honor

Carolina RailHawks midfielder Matthew Watson has been chosen to the United Soccer Leagues First Division All-League Second Team.

Watson also received the RailHawks' MVP award.

FROM TEAM NEWS RELEASE

U.S. LOSES OPENER IN FUTSAL WORLD CUP: The United States lost to Paraguay 5-0 on the opening day of the Futsal World Cup, a five-per-team soccer tournament featuring 20 nations at Brasilia, Brazil.

Games are played in two 20-minute periods on a surface about the size of a basketball court.

Labatt designated oldest ballpark

Labatt Park, which goes back to 1877, is officially the oldest baseball park in the world.

The distinction, awarded to the London, Ontario, stadium by Guinness World Records, had been held by Fuller Field in Clinton, Mass., which opened one year later.

Labatt opened at the forks of the Thames River as Tecumseh Park.

European Tour golfers must play 12

The European Tour will require its members to play in at least 12 events next season, increasing the minimum by one event as more players contemplate whether to join for the $10 million Race to Dubai.

The tour's Tournament Committee voted for the change Tuesday in St. Andrews, Scotland.

Phil Mickelson is among those who might join in 2009 when the tour season concludes with the top 60 players eligible for the Dubai World Championship. A separate $10 million in bonus money will be awarded, similar to the FedEx Cup on the U.S. tour.

The four U.S. major championships and three World Golf Championships count toward the 12.

Also, under criteria soon to be announced by the Royal & Ancient, the British Open will exempt the top 30 players from the FedEx Cup standings and the top 30 from the European tour money list.

S.C. HALL HONORS FERREE: Former PGA and Champions tour winner Jim Ferree, 77, who is from Pinebluff, N.C., will be inducted into the South Carolina Golf Hall of Fame in Columbia, S.C.

WNBA finals start tonight

The San Antonio Silver Stars (24-10) host the Detroit Shock (22-12) tonight to begin the best-of-five WNBA finals (7:30 p.m., ESPN2).

The Silver Stars won the teams' two regular-season meetings.

San Antonio, which went 14-0 against teams from the East, depends on Becky Hammon (20.2 points per game) and Sophia Young (18.7 ppg), the team's top two scorers and MVP candidates.

Detroit is in the finals for the third straight year. The Shock beat the Sacramento Monarchs for its second title in 2006 and then lost to the Phoenix Mercury last year. Deanna Nolan is averaging 20.7 points in the playoffs, and forward Katie Smith has averaged 14 over the past five games.

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