TOKYO (Ticker) — Coming off successful runs at the Olympic Games in Sydney, Americans Monica Seles and Serena Williams cruised into the quarterfinals at the $535,000 Princess Cup tennis tournament.
Seles, the top seed, began her bid for a sixth title at this event and fourth in five years with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Swiss qualifier Miroslava Vavrinec today.
Seles lost to eventual gold medalist Venus Williams, Serena’s sister, in the semifinals at the Olympics but rebounded to defeat Jelena Dokic to capture the bronze medal. She has won three titles this year and appeared in two other finals.
A runner-up here last year to Lindsay Davenport, Seles won this event in 1991-92 and 1996-98.
Vavrinec downed Hungary’s Rita Kuti Kis in straight sets on Monday and lost to Seles at this event for the second straight year. Seles rolled past Vavrinec, 6-1, 6-0, in the second round last year.