Lexington, Aug 12 (IANS): Former World No.1 Venus Williams came out with a commanding performance in the opening round of the inaugural Top Seed Open as she registered a triumphant straight-sets victory over Victoria Azarenka.

The seven-time Grand Slam champion defeated Azarenka 6-3, 3-2 in a match that lasted for 80 minutes on Tuesday and extended her lead in their head-to-head rivalry to 6-2.

Venus will now face her 23-time major-winning sister Serena in the second round of the competition. Serena had overcome fellow American Bernarda Pera in three sets in Tuesday's first match on Center Court.

"One Grand Slam winner, former World No.1, to another," Venus was quoted as saying by the WTA website. "It's been quite the draw for me, but quite honestly, this is perfect, because I haven't played in forever, so I want to play the best players. And I think I got my wish playing Serena, so here we go."

The two American siblings will come into their second-round encounter with Serena holding an 18-12 head-to-head lead over her 40-year-old sister. Their most recent completed match went the way of Serena when the 38-year-old defeated Venus 6-1, 6-2 in the third-round of 2018 US Open.