TENNIS in DEPTH.

Former champions Svetlana Kuznetsova and Venus Williams safely negotiated their second-round matches at the Sony Ericsson Open.

It was far from easy for top seed Kuznetsova, who was taken to three sets by Peng Shuai of China.

The Russian, champion in Miami in 2006, eventually prevailed 6-2 3-6 6-4.

Life was easier was third seed and three-time champion Williams, who swept past Sorana Cirstea of Romania 6-4 6-3.

Agnieszka Radwanska, who reached the semi-finals at Indian Wells earlier this month, secured a comfortable straight-sets success over Russia’s Ekaterina Makarova to reach the third round of the Florida tournament.

Radwanska, seeded sixth, dominated from the off and forced 13 break points during the opening set, but her failure to take all but three of them saw her sneak the first set 7-5.

But the second set proved a more straightforward affair as the 21-year-old breezed through it 6-0.

There were two high-profile casualties in the the shape of Li Na and Flavia Pennetta.

Eighth seed Li was involved in a titanic struggle with Swiss Timea Bacsinszky, who eventually prevailed 6-4 4-6 7-6 (7/3).

Italian Pennetta, meanwhile, fell apart in the final set as she slipped 6-3 3-6 6-0 to Andrea Petkovic

Thirteenth seed Marion Bartoli is also through after she eased past Magdalena Rybarikova of Slovakia.

The Frenchwoman recorded five breaks of serve in total on her way to a 6-2 6-4 win.

Yanina Wickmayer, the 12th seed, progressed after a straightforward 6-1 6-3 victory over British qualifier Elena Baltacha.

The other seeds to secure a safe passage through to the third round were Nadia Petrova (16), Daniela Hantuchova (19), Ana Ivanovic (25) and Agnes Szavay (27) who beat Kimiko Date Krumm, Patty Schnyder, Pauline Parmentier and Alicia Molik respectively.

Wildcard Petra Martic will face Wickmayer after coming through a close three-set contest with 18th seed Aravane Rezai.

Croatia’s Martic claimed the opening set 7-5 but her French opponent hit back to take the second set by the same scoreline. But Martic secured a vital break of serve late in the decider to take it 6-4 in a match lasting two hours and 34 minutes.

Seeds Aleksandra Wozniak and Sabine Lisicki exited as the former lost 7-6 (7/5) 6-3 to Polona Hercog while Lisicki was forced to retire while trailing 3-6 1-0 to Yaroslava Shvedova.

Alona Bondarenlo and Anabel Medina Garrigues, seeded 21 and 30, also bowed out as they suffered straight-sets defeats at the hands of Gisela Dulko and Roberta Vinci respectively.

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