TOKYO -- Venus Williams overpowered Mona Barthel of Germany 6-3, 6-1 on Sunday to advance to the second round of the Pan Pacific Open. Williams needed just 1 hour, 4 minutes at Ariake Colosseum to dispatch Barthel and set up a second-round matchup with top-seeded Victoria Azarenka, who has a first-round bye. Williams is 2-0 in head-to-head matches against Azarenka. They last met three years ago in the Dubai Duty Free final. "Ive watched many of her matches," Williams said. "Especially the big matches against Serena. Watching them at the U.S. Open was awesome, and hopefully that will help me." Top-ranked Serena Williams, who won her 17th Grand Slam singles title with a three-set win over Azarenka at the U.S. Open, pulled out of the $2.3 million tournament, saying she needed time to recover from a busy summer playing schedule. No. 3-ranked Maria Sharapova also pulled out of the Tokyo tournament because of a right-shoulder injury that kept her out of the U.S. Open. In other matches, ninth-seeded Sloane Stephens of the United States beat Stefanie Voegele of Switzerland 6-3, 6-2 while 12th-seeded Samantha Stosur of Australia came from a set down for a 2-6, 6-4, 6-1 win over Alize Cornet of France. Kirsten Flipkens of Belgium, seeded fourteenth, defeated Barbora Zahlavova Strycova of the Czech Republic, 7-6 (4), 7-5. Sorana Cirstea of Romania beat Julia Goerges of Germany, 6-4, 6-4. Marcu... Stroman Jersey . -- Damian Lillard and LaMarcus Alrdridge were again the go-to duo for the Trail Blazers against the Kings. Vince Coleman Cardinals Jersey .com) - The Pittsburgh Penguins placed forward James Neal on injured reserve Tuesday. http... . The Lightning are 2-0 so far on a four-game road trip, giving the club five straight wins as the guest and improving Tampas away record this season to 11-8-2. [url=http://www.baseballgreet.net/Washington-Nationals-Bryce-Harper-Jersey/]Bryc... Harper Nationals Jersey . Andreas Johnson had a goal and two assists while Jacob de la Rose also scored for Sweden (2-0-0). Esa Lindell and Rasmus Ristolainen replied for Finland (1-1-0) Lindell opened the scoring for Finland just 41 seconds into the game, but the hosts quickly regained their composure and tied the score less than four minutes later on Wennbergs first of the game. Matt Moore Rays Jersey . Hey!" The lower tier of the School End of Queens Park Rangers Loftus Road was packed solid with a very festive-sounding Chelsea choral section in this particular part of South Africa Road London, W12.TORONTO -- A rematch with Alexander (The Mauler) Gustafsson will have to wait for Jon (Bones) Jones. The UFC light-heavyweight champion is slated to meet Glover Teixeira next, as originally planned. UFC president Dana White confirmed in a text to The Canadian Press that the Brazilian bruiser was in the 205-pound championship on-deck circle. Teixeira, ranked second among light-heavyweight contenders, was rewarded with the promise of a title shot after he knocked out Ryan (Darth) Bader in the first round in September. There was talk that the Brazilians title shot might bbe delayed after UFC 165 earlier this month when Jones won a close decision over Gustafsson.dddddddddddd Talk after the punishing fight focused on a rematch. But the UFC has opted to stick with its original timetable, giving the Brazilian the title shot. Teixeira (22-2) has won 20 straight. Jones (19-1) and Gustafsson both had brief stays in hospital after their fight in Toronto. But on Thursday, Jones tweeted good news on the injury front. "Just got back from a MRI, Great news! my foot is not broken or fractured. Focusing on a full recovery." Cheap Soccer Jerseys Cheap NHL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys cheap jerseys Cheap Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys China ' ' '