Serena Williams makes stuttering start

Serena Williams made a stuttering start in her bid to topple Dinara Safina from the world number one spot with 7-5, 6-4 win over Estonian Kaia Kanepi in the first round of the China Open in Beijing yesterday.



Safina, who must at least match Williams’ progress over the next week in Beijing to retain the number one ranking, was equally unconvincing in her 6-4, 6-4 victory over Italian Roberta Vinci earlier in the day.



Williams, the Australian Open and Wimbledon champion made nine unforced errors in the 83-minute encounter against the big-hitting Kanepi, who broke the second-seeded American three times.



Earlier on center court, sixth-seeded Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova damaged hopes of a first local champion with a 7-6, 7-5 defeat of China’s number two Zheng Jie.